The Single European Sky (Single European Sky, SES) is a regulatory initiative of the European Union in 2004 that has the fundamental objective of restructuring the air navigation management system of the continent, promoting its evolution towards a more effective air transport system.
The contracts carried out under ACT 04 will allow a digital transformation of the systems used for air traffic management, to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, both in terms of decarbonization and the emission of other atmospheric pollutants, which will allow an ecological transition in the air sector including the entry of new users such as UAVs, as well as the social and economic cohesion that air transport generates, all in line with the actions promoted from Europe within the framework of the Single European Sky.
ENAIRE (air navigation manager in Spain) contributes in this PERTE with the Project “Actions for the Development of the Single European Sky”, which has as objectives the modernization of air traffic control systems and surveillance systems, digital transformation and information systems and with the evolution of communication systems.
The investments of this project fall into three areas:
- Sustainability: these actions are framed within the framework of the development of U-space, which will allow to manage simultaneous operations of a large number of drones (autonomous electric vehicles that contribute to the decarbonization and reduction of emissions of atmospheric pollutants such as NOx, VOCs, etc. air operations) in the same portion of airspace, as well as the operation of the Aerotaxis (Urban Air Mobility) for a new concept of passenger transport. Drones mostly use clean energies and this system will optimize flight paths based on environmental criteria. By using drones in the first stage for parcel delivery, it will allow a significant volume of road traffic to be replaced by delivery vans, and in a later stage it will also serve for transporting people through aerotaxis, also with electric motors and/or hydrogen batteries. Additionally, it will contribute to noise reduction when automated aircraft fly above cities at high altitude.
- Digitalization: the aim is to digitize different areas of action, such as aeronautical documentation (data and cartography), the provision of users for the realization of flights through new technologies, the expansion of Earth/Air coverage and voice digitization in pilot-controller communications, the technological modernization of the network of primary radars, among others.
- Security: the actions are aimed at updating the infrastructure of the air traffic control system and modernizing the air traffic control system to adapt it to regulated criteria, incorporating improvements in capacity, operational security, cybersecurity and innovative concepts of digitalization.
Execution and results
By September 2023, 8 projects had been completed, with a total budget of 75.4 M €.