ENAIRE highlights the importance of technological innovation for the transformation of the sector at the EUROCAE aerospace symposium

ENAIRE, the national air navigation service provider, is taking part in EUROCAE’s international symposium on 23 and 24 April, a key event in the aerospace sector that brings together industry leaders, experts and professionals in Madrid to discuss innovation, trends and challenges in the field.

The event brings together industry leaders, experts and professionals in Madrid to discuss innovative solutions, trends and challenges in the aerospace field

The programme includes six interactive panels with aviation industry leaders, eight talks on the latest innovations, networking opportunities, and an exhibition of the main projects currently being developed by leading companies in the sector.

ENAIRE’s CEO, Enrique Maurer, took part in the symposium’s opening session with a speech in which he highlighted three projects involving ENAIRE as significant examples of technological innovation, all of which are crucial for the future of air navigation.

"We are helping to lay the foundations for an air traffic management system based on an open digital architecture, in consortium with leading European providers and Indra through the iTEC alliance; together with Indra, through the company Startical, we have launched the first prototype of a satellite constellation that will expand the current concept of air navigation, and we are set to become providers of common information services for the advanced use of drone operations". These were the words of ENAIRE’s Director General, Enrique Maurer, who also stated, "we will have our own automated application (U-space) to manage urban air mobility in Spain".

iTEC

iTEC is an international alliance working on next-generation air traffic management. Its main objective is to develop advanced systems to optimise air navigation, such as the future iTEC SkyNex system. This system uses 4D trajectory-based operations to reduce flight deviations, flight time, fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions. In addition, it promotes interoperability between air traffic management systems through open standards and interchangeable components.

Startical

Startical, a company that is co-owned equally by ENAIRE and Indra, aims to develop technological and operational solutions to enhance the safety, capacity and efficiency of air traffic—and other modes of transport—by providing global satellite-based surveillance (ADS-B) and communication (VHF) services for voice and digital data, via a constellation of over 200 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

U-space

Once certified, ENAIRE will act as a Common Information Service Provider (CISP) for the advanced use of drone operations in Spain, and it will also be certified as a U-space Service Provider. ENAIRE will have its own automated application to manage Urban Air Mobility (air taxis, delivery drones, etc.).

Elsewhere, on Thursday the 24th, the head of the Drone Department of ENAIRE's Strategy and Innovation Division, Daniel García Monteavaro, will take part, together with other experts, in a panel on operations with unmanned aircraft and their implementation.     

[Speech by ENAIRE's Director General, Enrique Maurer, at the EUROCAE symposium]

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the air navigation service provider in Spain.

As a company of the Ministry of Sustainable Transport and Mobility, it provides air traffic control services during the en route and approach phases of all flights to and from Spain and overflights. In addition, it manages communications, navigation and surveillance services from ENAIRE in the airspace and the entire AENA airport network in Spain and provides aerodrome air traffic control services in 21 airports, including the busiest.

ENAIRE is the fourth largest European air navigation service provider, and it is a member of international partnerships A6 Alliance, SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, iTEC, CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) and collaborates closely with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).

ENAIRE has received the highest score in Europe on the aviation safety key performance indicator for four years in a row. It has also been awarded the EFQM 600 Seal for its safe, efficient, innovative and sustainable management of air navigation services.