Single European Sky – the vision is clearly described in the ATM Masterplan. Reaching the goals for the European Airspace is only possible with focused technical developments on European level. The air traffic controller is the main player in the traffic management at tactical level. This project aims at providing the air traffic controller with more automated tools, thus freeing capacity for situations where human intervention is crucial. This provides even safer service for an increasing amount of traffic and with lower costs, as required by airspace users. This project is a part of the SESAR programme and addresses separation management. It will not only improve current conflict detection tools, but also develop new tools aiding the air traffic controller with resolution advisory and monitoring of flight trajectory. The project also addresses new ways of working together. Air traffic controllers traditionally work in pairs and in specific airspace. Could we change this to multi-planner setup, sector less airspace and seamless cross-border operations? Our project will ensure the research is developed to a stage where it can be used in operational air traffic management systems in Europe. This ensures that anyone can fly safer, cheaper and quicker in Europe in 10 years. Another really important issue is the integration of “Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems” – drones. Drones are new to European Air Traffic Management, and it is urgent to address concepts and technological developments needed to handle this kind of traffic safely. The companies involved in this project are the only ones that can deliver this kind of result. Not on their own – but as the unique cooperation between air navigation service providers and air and ground industry. The capabilities to provide sustainable results usable throughout Europe by fast-time, real-time simulations and live trials ensures that developed prototypes are working in the context of future traffic and ATM systems.

This project is part of the Industrial Research & Validation phase, developed under the SJU Private Public Partnership and will contribute to the SESAR2020 Programme Lifecycle. It will build upon previous work in SESAR2020 Wave 1. The project will further mature the concept of “Flight Centric ATC” where an air traffic controller is responsible for a certain number of aircraft throughout their entire flight segment within a given airspace whereas other controllers are responsible for different aircraft within the same airspace. Another objective is to enable collaborative control operations, where ATCOs will be able to issue instructions to aircraft that involve out-of-sector manoeuvring, without the coordination required in conventional operations. This will be accompanied by an activity to identify and validate needs that might allow a Controller to operate in any airspace classified as a particular type. That is, the ATCO will be validated on method and tools rather than a geographic specified airspace. In addition, the project will investigate and develop the Contingency and Delegation of Airspace Operational Use Cases. It will identify the impacts on the services defined in the Virtual Centre concept and validate the concept within a realistic environment based on contingency needs or on organisation needs (either static, on a fixed-time transfer schedule, or dynamic, when the traffic density is below/above a certain level). In order to reduce the workload and mental strain on the controllers in the ATC centre, especially under high traffic density/complexity situations, the project will investigate new human machine interface interaction modes and technologies. This work will consider modern design and development approaches as well as methodologies such as modularity, service-oriented architecture, adaptive automation. The project will in particular address Automatic Speech Recognition, Attention Guidance and enhanced User Profile Management Systems.

SKYOPENER will increase the use of Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) for civilian applications by contributing to the European RPAS Steering Group's roadmap for the integration of civil RPAS into the European Aviation System. SKYOPENER will provide a whole operational process and a system that will demonstrate higher capability through Communication, Navigation and Surveillance innovations in RPAS. The SKYOPENER system will be designed, in the first instance, for specific operations for tactical RPAS, that are under 25kilos but subject to national aviation authority regulation, operating at Very Low Level of operation (under 500ft). SKYOPENER will include live trials in Switzerland for which we will gather stakeholders implicated in the operations of RPAS including RPAS operators, civil aviation authorities, air navigation service providers, RPAS manufacturers, satcom service providers etc. The newly developed system will be the result of the integration of a range of components which will combine technologies such as GNSS, satcom and security tools. GNSS will be used for the safety navigation of RPAS. The project will provide a command and control link that uses communication through multi-band satellite and radio and will address the redundancy issue of communication systems It will also feature a surveillance system with detect and avoid functions that will be based on GNSS, system wide information management and satcom. Such a system will be less costly, less complex, lighter and easier to roll out than those that are currently using mode-S transponders. SKYOPENER project brings together a seven partner team with a range of expertise and skills. Additionally we will include in the project a stakeholder group which will advise on the requirements of the project, witness the trial operations and support in the dissemination of results from the project. The range of partners, stakeholders and European associations give SKYOPENER a European scope.

PJ19 W2 CI is a transversal activity of the SESAR 2020 Programme in continuation of the SESAR Wave 1 PJ19 CI Content Integration project. It aims to integrate the SESAR Solutions into the integrated European ATM System in order to achieve the objectives set by the ATM Master Plan (MP). This integrated European ATM System provides the overall European ATM concept, the high-level architecture options, the services, the supporting solutions, and the performance achievements associated with them. As such, PJ.19 W2 does not create any specific ATM concept or solution but produces a set of deliverables which consolidate the SESAR 2020 Programme outcomes and provides yearly integrated reference material – the SESAR 2020 Architecture release (EATMA version) . This is done in close collaboration and coordination with all SESAR 2020 Solutions and the SJU through continuous, rolling and iterative content integration. PJ19-W2 allows the assessment of the overall performance of the SESAR Solutions compared with the performance improvements expected for the European ATM. Whilst the decisions are made by SJU management and SESAR governance, PJ.19 W2 activities support and guide the processes (e.g. safety, security assessment, human performance, performance assessment, cost benefit analysis (CBA), architecture, requirements) to bring the SESAR Solutions together and assess their maturity (completeness, consistency and coherency) from a holistic perspective represented in the SESAR 2020 Concept of Operations. The PJ.19 W2 activities provide major inputs for the ATM MP production (ATM architecture information (e.g. data set), performance and CBA consolidation, business case production), which are further consolidated at the time of the ATM MP update campaign by the PJ.20 W2 ‘Master Planning’ project). PJ19-W2 provides support for the SJU/SESAR governance decision-making and programme execution monitoring and also contributes to the realisation of the ATM MP.

The Free Routing concept enables Airspace Users (AU) to fly as close as possible to their preferred trajectory, without being constrained by fixed airspace structures or fixed route networks. Free Routing (FR) implementation represents a step towards a less fragmented European airspace foreseen by Single European Sky (SES) and provides the AUs with the possibility to fly their user preferred routes in accordance with their business needs or mission requirements. FR will result in a seamless airspace enabling more efficient flight, a reduction in AU costs and will promote cheaper travel, increasing personal mobility and trade. In addition, implementing Free Routing Airspace (FRA) will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that currently contribute to global warming, thereby creating a greener airspace. FR was addressed within the SESAR 1 programme but additional R&D activities are required to support the implementation of FRA in high and very high complexity airspace (The EU Regulation No 716/2014 mandates FRA above FL 310 from 1 January 2022) and also to extend this implementation below FL310 thereby allowing other AUs to benefit (The European Air Traffic Management Master Plan version 2015 identifies the need for R&D work to support the management of performance-based Free Routing in lower airspace) The partners in PJ06 will validate both the benefit to AUs and the impact on ATM of this extension of FRA into complex airspace and lower vertical limits through modelling and Real Time Simulations. The results will seek to provide evidence that FRA can be implemented, cost effectively, in all the SES airspace. The PJ06 Consortium involves key stakeholders of ground industry, Air Navigation Services Providers, universities and EUROCONTROL and includes a wide range of expertise and competence, all committed to delivering high-quality results.