The Single European Sky (SES) is a regulatory European Union initiative from 2004 that has the fundamental objective of restructuring the continent's air navigation management system, promoting its evolution towards a more efficient air transport system.
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 decarbonisation and the emission of other air 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 by Europe in the framework of the Single European Sky.
ENAIRE (air navigation manager in Spain) contributes to this PERTE with the Project “Actions for the Development of the Single European Sky”, whose objectives are the modernisation of air traffic control systems and surveillance systems, digital transformation and information systems and the evolution of communication systems.
Investments in this project fall into three areas:
- Sustainability: these actions are part of the development of U-space, which will allow the simultaneous operations of a large number of drones (autonomous electric vehicles that contribute to decarbonisation and reducing air pollutant emissions such as NOx, VOCs, etc. from air operations) in a single portion of airspace, as well as the operation of Aerotaxis (Urban Air Mobility) for a new concept of transporting people. Drones use mostly clean energy and this system will optimise flight paths based on environmental criteria. Using drones in a first phase for parcel delivery will make it possible to replace a significant volume of road traffic from delivery vans, and in a later phase it will also be used to transport people with air taxis, also with electric motors and/or hydrogen batteries. In addition, it will contribute to reducing noise when automated aircraft fly over cities at high altitude.
- Digitalisation: it seeks to digitalise different areas of action, such as aeronautical documentation (data and cartography), the provision of users to carry out flights using new technologies, the expansion of Earth/Air coverage and voice digitalisation in pilot-controller communications, the technological modernisation of the primary radar network, among others.
- Safety: actions are aimed at updating air traffic control system infrastructure and modernising the air traffic control system to adapt to regulated criteria, incorporating improvements in capacity, operational safety, cybersecurity and innovative digitalisation concepts.
Execution and results
By September 2023, eight projects had been completed, with a total budget of €75.4 m.