• £4.4 million has been invested across 14 innovative aviation projects that will support areas such as the NHS, emergency services, and nature restoration across the UK.
• Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, in partnership with the Department for Transport (DfT), has announced the latest group of projects to receive funding from the Future Flight Programme.

The programme encourages the innovative use of aviation technologies to support a variety of challenges in the UK, including medical supply chains, protecting national infrastructure, and agricultural restoration.

Eight of the projects are for strategic growth, to demonstrate progress towards commercialisation, focusing on real-world operations proving use cases in a variety of sectors, from agriculture to medicine.

Six of the projects are regional demonstrators, which been funded to enable local areas across the UK to plan for the adoption and integration of drones, as well as passenger carrying eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) and zero emission conventional aircraft.

The funded projects include:
London Health Bridge Growth – building on an existing medical drone delivery service trial, this project will scale operations from 1,000 medical samples to 50,000 samples per month. It will also add new hospital sites to the network, connecting Guy’s Hospital, St Thomas’ Hospital, Synlab’s Blackfriars hub, and King’s College Hospital. It will provide a faster, more efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional road transport, responding to urgent clinical needs in real time.

Drone as a First Responder – this project is developing and demonstrating a modular, flexible drone platform that will make it safer, faster, and easier for emergency services and infrastructure operators to use drones as part of their everyday operations.
Beyond Restoration – designed to support the UK’s urgent need to restore peatlands and woodlands across the UK, this project deploys drones to apply materials such as lime, native seed mixes, fertiliser, and tree seeds across ecologically significant sites in England, Wales and Scotland. It offers a significant environmental advantage by avoiding the damage that heavy equipment or human footfall can cause in fragile environments

Future Flight Deputy Director, Simon Masters said: “Innovate UK is proud to continue supporting the UK’s future flight ecosystem, accelerating the route to commercial operations and delivering real-world impact. These ambitious new projects highlight the strength of the sector and its diverse applications, from reducing emissions, advancing healthcare delivery and protecting our environment.

“By focusing on regional adoption, we aim to drive faster, more impactful growth and societal benefits for communities across the UK.”

Aviation Minister Keir Mather said: “We’re backing the next generation of British aviation businesses whose transformative technologies will reshape how we live and work in the years to come.

“Investing in emerging technologies like drones and unmanned aircraft is key to build a greener and more efficient transport system. But this isn’t just good news for the environment – this tech will also save our public sector and businesses valuable time and cash whilst helping boost skills and support high quality jobs across the country.”