PRIVACY POLICY

We take your privacy very seriously. Please read this privacy notice carefully as it contains important information on who we are and how and why we collect, store, use and share your personal information. It also explains your rights in relation to your personal information and how to contact us or supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint.

We collect, use and are responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation, which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom) and the Data Protection Act 2018 and we are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws.

Our Contact Details

Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Limited
First Floor Trent House, Cranfield Technology Park, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AN

Tel: +44 (0)3301 798110

Email: enquiries@cranfieldaerospace.com

Contact DPO: DPO@cranfieldaerospace.com

Controller

CAeS is the controller and responsible for your personal data.

We have appointed a data protection officer (DPO) who is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact the DPO using the details set out above.

Making a complaint

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.

The data we collect about you

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together follows:

  • Identity Data includes first name, last name, username or similar identifier, title.
  • Contact Data includes billing address, delivery address, email address and telephone numbers.
  • Transaction Data includes details about payments to and from you and other details of products and services you have purchased from us.
  • Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
  • Profile Data includes your username and password, purchases or orders made by you, your preferences, feedback and survey responses.
  • Usage Data includes information about how you use our website, products and services.

We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy notice.

We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.

The type of personal information we collect about you depends on the relationship we have with you.

We may collect and use the following personal information about you:

Clients/Potential Clients

  • your name and contact information, including address, email address and telephone numbers
  • delivery address for delivery of purchase
  • your identification and other documentation (such as passport, ID card, proof of address) for our right to work checks or security clearance checks
  • your billing information, transaction and payment information
  • your purchase history
  • information about how you use our website, IT, communication and other systems
  • Any other information that may identify you that you have voluntarily provided to us
  • your name, address and contact information, including address, email address and telephone numbers

Visitors to website

  • Cookies in order to get a better understanding of the use of our website

Visitors to our office/hangar

  • CCTV Footage
  • Visitor’s name, telephone number and vehicle registration (if applicable) for signing-in purposes

Others

  • CVs and contact details of you are applying for a position
  • Contact details to facilitate or establish any relationship with you

This personal information is required to provide services or items to you or to receive services or items from you. If you do not provide personal information we ask for, it may delay or prevent us from providing or obtaining items and/or services to you.

How your personal information is collected

We collect most of this personal information directly from you in person, by telephone, email and/or via our website. However, we may also collect information:

  • from cookies on our website
  • various professional online sources, such as LinkedIn or other professional organisations
  • CCTV images when you visit our sites
  • we may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources
  • technical data from the analytics providers such as Google.
  • contact, financial and transaction data from providers of technical, payment and delivery services based inside the EU.
  • identity and contact data from publicly availably sources such as Companies House.

How and why we use your personal information

Under data protection law, we can only use your personal information if we have a proper reason for doing so, for example:

  • to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
  • for the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract with you
  • for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, or
  • where you have given consent
  • a legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests.

The table below explains what we use (process) your personal information for and our reasons for doing so:

Purpose/ActivityType of dataLawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest
To register you as a new customer(a) Identity(b) ContactPerformance of a contract with you
To process and deliver your order including:(a) Manage payments, fees and charges(b) Collect and recover money owed to us(a) Identity(b) Contact(c) Financial (d) Transaction(a) Performance of a contract with you(b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to recover debts due to us)
To manage our relationship with you which will include:(a) Notifying you about changes to our terms or privacy policy(b) Asking you to leave a review or take a survey(a) Identity(b) Contact(c) Profile(a) Performance of a contract with you(b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation(c) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how customers use our products/services)
To enable you to partake in a prize draw, competition or complete a survey(a) Identity(b) Contact(c) Profile(d) Usage(a) Performance of a contract with you(b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them and grow our business)
To administer and protect our business and this website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data)(a) Identity(b) Contact(c) Technical(a) Necessary for our legitimate interests (for running our business, provision of administration and IT services, network security, to prevent fraud and in the context of a business reorganisation or group restructuring exercise)(b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation
To deliver relevant website content to you(a) Identity(b) Contact(c) Profile(d) Usage(e) TechnicalNecessary for our legitimate interests (to study how customers use our products/services and to develop them)
To use data analytics to improve our website, products/services, customer relationships and experiences(a) Technical(b) UsageNecessary for our legitimate interests (to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our website updated and relevant and to develop our business)
To make suggestions and recommendations to you about goods or services that may be of interest to you(a) Identity(b) Contact(c) Technical(d) Usage(e) ProfileNecessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our products/services and grow our business)
To fill an employment vacancy.(a) Identity(b) ContactNecessary for our legitimate interests (to grow our business)

CCTV footage at our site

We may operate CCTV at our site for the detection and prevention of crime and for the health and safety of visitors and staff at our site. We normally only keep CCTV footage for 30 days.

Marketing

We will not use your personal data to market to you nor provide it to any third parties.

Cookies

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly. For more information about the cookies we use, please see our cookie policy.

Recruitment

In order to consider you for roles within our organisation we will need to discuss your application and personal information with relevant employees. Only employees involved within the recruitment process will have access to your information and will keep it secure. If you are not selected for an interview, your personal information will be deleted from our systems within 6 months.

Business contacts

In order to facilitate any business to business relationships with suppliers or other businesses we will need process personal details of persons within those businesses such as names, email addresses and job titles. (legitimate interest)

Promotional communications

We may use your personal information to send you updates by email, post or social media communications about our services, and events.

We have a legitimate interest in processing your personal information for promotional purposes. This means we do not usually need your consent to send you promotional communications. However, where consent is needed, we will ask for this consent separately and clearly.

We will always treat your personal information with the utmost respect and never sell it to other organisations outside Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Ltd for marketing purposes.

We may share your personal information for marketing purposes with third parties but only where we have engaged such third parties to market on our behalf. They will only act upon our strict instructions and we will only allow them to handle your personal information if we are satisfied they take appropriate measures to protect your personal information.

You have the right to opt out of receiving promotional communications at any time by using the ‘unsubscribe’ link in emails

Who we share your personal information with

We routinely share personal information with:

  • companies within the Cranfield Aerospace Group;
  • third parties we use to help deliver our products, services or events, for example, payment service providers, delivery companies, event organisers/suppliers;
  • other third parties we use to help us run our business, for example, marketing agencies, website hosts or administrative/audit functions;
  • our insurers and brokers (if applicable);
  • our bank, (if applicable);

We only allow our service providers to handle your personal information if we are satisfied they take appropriate measures to protect your personal information. We may also share personal information with external auditors for accreditation and the audit of our accounts.

We may disclose and exchange information with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

We may also need to share some personal information with other parties, such as during a re-structuring. Usually, information will be anonymised but this may not always be possible. The recipient of the information will be bound by confidentiality obligations.

How long your personal information will be kept

We will keep your personal information while we are providing services to you or during a recruitment process. Thereafter, we will keep your personal information for as long as is necessary:

  • to respond to any questions, complaints or claims made by you or on your behalf;
  • to show that we treated you fairly;
  • to keep records required by law.

We will not retain your personal information for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this notice. Different retention periods apply for different types of personal information. For other personal data we carry out an annual audit to establish what is still necessary. Further details on this are available upon request by contacting us using our details below.

When it is no longer necessary to retain your personal information, we will delete or anonymise it.

Your rights

You have the right to:

Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.

Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.

Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms.

You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.

Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios: (a) if you want us to establish the data’s accuracy; (b) where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (d) you have objected to our use of your data but we need to
verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.

Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us.

No fee usually required

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

What we may need from you

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

Time limit to respond

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

Keeping your personal information secure

We have appropriate security measures to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed unlawfully. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to access it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

BATTLE OF BRITAIN MEMORIAL FLIGHT

CAeS and its predecessors supported the UK’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for 40 years.

In that time, we have developed avionics modifications, structural repairs and provided Independent Technical Evaluation of third-party modifications.  We have also provided continual design, airworthiness and safety advice to structures and systems for the Flight’s fleet of Spitfires and Hurricanes.

SAAB 340

CAeS supported the design, development, integration and installation of a wide range of equipment for this unique aircraft modification.

CAeS also delivered the certification process, including flight testing.

Complex Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI) suite measuring all flight control movements, processes the data, and displays it directly to each student

New equipment rack housing data acquisition and management equipment (installed Data Acquisition Computer,
Inertial Measurement Unit, Sideslip Vanes, Navigation System, GPS Splitters)

Cockpit interface in centre pedestal that allows full control of the FTI equipment, battery isolation, master switch, WiFi
switch, etc.

Charging for the students’ tablets via USB or 240V AC.

Camera System for external forward view, cockpit view, and wing view

WiFi System supporting wireless data transmission inside the passenger cabin (including T-PED testing for compliance demonstration)

Installation of a passenger door in the rear bulkhead to make the cargo compartment accessible in flight

Installation of a FLARM Safety System, enhancing situation
awareness for the flight crew

Intercom headset sockets for classroom demonstrators

Certification Basis included Certification Review Items for
“Lithium Battery Installations” (CRI F-04) and “WLAN and Interfacing (T-)PEDs” (CRI F-01)

WEAPONS INTEGRATION

CAeS was contracted by Thales to support the integration of FASGW(L) system and by the MOD to support the integration of legacy Stingray torpedo and depth charge systems onto the Augusta Westland Wildcat helicopters. We also worked alongside MBDA who were supporting the FASGW(H) system and Leonardo helicopters who operated the helicopter.

Defensive Aids Integration

Supporting the integration of defensive aids onto the Chinook Mk5 and Mk6 helicopters and F-35.

Data collection was conducted using bespoke CAeS hardware that was manufactured in collaboration with UK MOD to support flight trials. The hardware consists of an array of data loggers and sensors fitted to a standard Type 118 flare case. This reduces minimal installation effort into standard flare magazines with minimal interference with aircraft systems that  enables faster safety assessments, clearance and turnaround during trials.

Boeing X-48 B/C

11 years of development with NASA, US Airforce and Boeing to design fully representative systems.
CAeS designed and built the X-48 B and C variants in the UK.
Blended wing concept design, considered a contender for future aircraft.
CAeS developed to test aerodynamic characteristics near stall speeds.​
CAeS designed the aircraft systems and ground station for piloting the vehicle.​
CAeS built the flight test demonstrator, support wind tunnel testing.
CAeS supported 7 years of flight testing
The X-48B, is the unmanned X-plane with the most sorties – 130.

AQUILLA

Experimental ground vibration test of the air vehicle to allow:

Validation of finite element model – mass, stiffness and interfaces​

Validation of flight control model – quantify any coincidences of resonances with flight control frequencies​

Low frequency GVT to assure the aero-elastic and stability

42 m wingspan, but extremely light​

Modes expected at very low frequencies​

Special low frequency instrumentation acquired​

Suspension springs designed and manufactured for the test

ISTAR PLATFORM

Support to the Certification of modifications to CAA/DAOS Approvals​

CAeS provides structural and aerodynamic leads for the ‘major’ modifications involved.​

Design Services including,​

Mechanical and electrical system design​

Stress analysis (static, fatigue and damage analysis)​

Icing Predictions ​

Modification to Pressure Bulkhead​

Weight and Balance Reports​

Flight Performance Determination​

Flight trials​

Certification​

OLM support​

Wind tunnel testing​

Provision of CVEs and signatories

WATCHKEEPER

Support Agreement with U-TacS

Elbit (Silver Arrow)/Thales JV​

Support/advice to Elbit on UK MoD certification.​

Review of all certification documentation​

Major step forward in certifying UAV’s for flight in UK airspace.​

Load case analysis on entire vehicle​

Modifications to aircraft.

BAE SYSTEMS

CAeS was contracted by BAE Systems to design and certify various complex modifications on the FAAM BAE 146 Airborne Laboratory under our BCAR A8-21 approval. The aircraft is extensively used for atmospheric research across the world. CAeS modifications include various external apertures for sensors, cameras, and antennas as well as internal modifications for operator consoles, avionics, and supporting structures.

https://www.faam.ac.uk/

SAFRAN- PROJECT BETA

In 2025, Safran central technologies (Paris) commissioned CAeS to support the development of their own hydrogen
programmes.

Working with the Safran team, CAeS are developing a 50-PAX regional aircraft to design, test and iterate with
new hydrogen powertrain pseudo technologies. With CAeS acting as both pseudo airframer and technology supplier, models with flight analysis provide the teams the opportunity to understand the environmental and
performance challenges associated with the state-of-the-art technology being developed. 

By exploring the integration of complex next generation system technologies through the product life-cycle, CAeS and Safran are able to accelerate early-stage developments, expose aircraft level technology challenges and increase system efficiency.

AIRBUS E-FAN X

CAeS was contracted by Airbus to support the E-Fan X project, a complex hybrid-electric flight demonstrator, which replaces one of the engines with a 2 MW electric motor.

CAeS designed and verified the structure to install and operate the jet engine/electric generator inside the fuselage of the BAe 146 flying testbed.

https://www.airbus.com/en/innovation/low-carbon-aviation/hybrid-and-electric-flight/e-fan-x

ROLLS ROYCE

CAeS was contracted by Rolls-Royce to verify the flight safety data under UK CAA E Conditions (CAP1220) for the all-electric “Spirit of Innovation” aircraft, which is the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft. It reached a top speed of 345.5 mph over a 3 kilometres stretch.

CAeS verified all the related documents including risk and safety assessments.

https://www.rolls-royce.com/media/press-releases/2021/19-11-2021-spirit-of-innovation-stakes-claim-to-be-the-worlds-fastest-all-electric-vehicle.aspx

STRATUS 9

Californian-based private aviation and fractional ownership innovator Stratus 9 signed a deal with CAeS in February 2024 to create the United States’ first zero-emission fractional aircraft and co-ownership programme.

 

MONTE

MONTE is a global asset manager, founded with the sole ambition of financing sustainable regional transportation. Our partnership with MONTE allows us to offer extend financing options to operators when purchasing our modification kits or conversions.

 

EVIA AERO

A startup airline planning to operate exclusively sustainable aircraft, Evia Aero aims to reactivate regional markets and expand air travel in a scalable, sustainable and economically viable way. CAeS is one of the airline’s two technology partners.

DRONAMICS

Dronamics have developed the Black Swan, a middle-mile cargo UAV and have been granted both an IATA & ICAO operator designation and an AOC (Air Operator Certificate) in Europe. Although they will launch their operations with conventionally-powered UAVs, the MOU signed with CAeS in 2023 and the subsequent Letter of Intent for nearly 1300 CAeS hydrogen powertrains underlines their intent to transition to a sustainable solution for their platform.

 

TORRES STRAIT AIR

A 100% indigenously-owned air charter company based in the beautiful island community off the northern coast of Australia, Torres Strait Air has been operating Islanders for almost 10 years. A LOI signed with MONTE in September 2023 recognises the operator’s intention to convert its Islander fleet to hydrogen-electric propulsion.

https://torresair.com/

ISLE OF SCILLY GROUP SKYBUS

British reginal airline Skybus is owned by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group (ISSG) and has been operating Islanders between the UK mainland and the Scilly Isles for over 30 years. ISSG signed a Letter of Intent with CAeS and Britten Norman in 2021 in recognition of their ambition to transition their air services to hydrogen.

AIR NEW ZEALAND

Air New Zealand are a major international airline renowned for their focus on sustainability.

Cranfield Aerospace were selected as Air New Zealand’s hydrogen technology partner on their Mission Next Gen Aircraft Programme which was created to accelerate the development of next generation aircraft technologies and the infrastructure required to make them a reality for commercial aviation in New Zealand.

https://www.airnewzealand.co.uk/

https://flightnz0.airnewzealand.co.nz/initiatives/mission-next-gen-aircraft