Raquel Moldes, from the Drone Business Development team at ENAIRE, at Airspace World 2026
• ENAIRE recorded 7,570 drone operations requiring prior coordination in 2025
• In the field of U-space, Spain’s national air navigation service provider acts as the sole facilitator for the exchange of operational information and data
• Of the more than 1,000 flights carried out under the European U-ELCOME project in the U-space domain, 600 took place in Spain
ENAIRE, Spain's national air navigation service provider, has consolidated its role as the sole Common Information Service Provider (CISP) following the approval on 4 June 2024 of Royal Decree 517/2024, which establishes the legal framework for the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
Since the Royal Decree entered into force, ENAIRE has played a key role in the deployment of U-space—the suite of services that will enable the digital, automated management of complex drone operations while ensuring full safety.
The legislation provides stability and legal certainty for the sector and has positioned ENAIRE as a key player in the deployment of U-space in Spain. The Royal Decree stipulates that the public entity, once certified, shall be the exclusive provider of Common Information Services in all U-space airspaces designated under Spanish responsibility.
In 2025, ENAIRE's Airspace Operational Coordination Department recorded 7,570 drone operations requiring prior coordination. ENAIRE recorded a total of 2,017 coordination requests for unmanned aircraft operations in Spain during the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 7.9% on the same period in 2025, when 1,870 operations were logged.
This reflects sustained growth in activity and underscores the importance of ensuring the future safe, efficient and coordinated management of unmanned air traffic within U-space.
U-space and ENAIRE's role
The U-space concept is a set of highly digitalised and automated services and procedures designed to give a large number of UAS safe, efficient and regulated access to European airspace, while enabling their coexistence with manned aircraft in designated airspaces.
ENAIRE has already developed its U-space digital platform, which will enable it to obtain certification as both a CISP (Common Information Service Provider) and a USSP (U-space Service Provider).
As CISP, ENAIRE will act as the sole facilitator for the exchange of operational information and data between conventional air traffic service providers and U-space service providers—the entities responsible for delivering these digital services to drone operators.
The deployment of U-space forms part of the National Action Plan for the Deployment of U-space (PANDU) and is a key element in the future development of drone operations for freight transport and, in the medium term, air taxis for passenger transport.
The regulatory framework also reinforces ENAIRE's role and leadership in major European U-space and Innovative Air Mobility validation and demonstration projects—such as U-ELCOME, EUREKA and OPERA—at the forefront of research and development in drone traffic management. ENAIRE's involvement in these projects marks a significant step towards consolidating U-space technology at European and global level.
In 2025, ENAIRE led the Spanish component of U-ELCOME, one of Europe's flagship U-space service validation initiatives. Over its three-year span, the project demonstrated how commercial drone operations can be integrated safely and efficiently into European airspace. More than 1,000 flights were carried out across the project, 600 of them in Spain.
About ENAIRE
ENAIRE is Spain's national air navigation service provider.
A public company under the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, it provides air traffic control services for the en-route and approach phases of all flights originating from or destined for Spain, as well as overflights. ENAIRE also manages communications, navigation and surveillance services across the entirety of Spanish airspace and Aena's nationwide airport network, and provides aerodrome air traffic control at 21 airports, including the busiest.
ENAIRE is Europe's fourth-largest air traffic management provider and a member of the A6 Alliance, the SESAR Joint Undertaking, the SESAR Deployment Manager, iTEC and CANSO, with close ties to ICAO.
It has achieved the highest rating in the key European aviation safety performance indicator for six consecutive years, the last five with the maximum possible score of 100%. ENAIRE also holds the EFQM 600 Seal in recognition of its safe, efficient, innovative and sustainable management of air navigation services.