ENAIRE and AIRBUS join forces to develop U-Space services and boost drone and air taxi activity in Spain.

The air navigation operator and the aeronautical company have signed an agreement to promote R&D&I with a focus on the Single European Sky.

The air navigation operator and the aeronautical company sign an agreement to promote R&D&I with an eye toward the Single European Sky.

The Ministry of Transport, through ENAIRE, is particularly interested in promoting and supporting scientific and technological research and development. Furthermore, in accordance with ENAIRE’s 2025 Flight Plan Strategic Plan, it is developing new digital technologies that will modernize and improve the efficiency of air navigation services and, in particular, the development of U-Space services in Spain, which directly impact the activity of drones and future flying vehicles or air taxis.

At the signing of the collaboration protocol between ENAIRE and Airbus, the Secretary of State for Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda, Pedro Saura, welcomed the synergies and knowledge exchange resulting from this public-private partnership agreement in such a strategic area as the deployment of urban air mobility in U-Space environments.

In turn, the Secretary of State framed the development of U-Space and the creation of new civil services and applications within the Safe, Sustainable, and Connected Mobility Strategy. The automated and digitalized management of drone operations within U-Space will be essential to developing its operations in an orderly manner and offering a safe and decarbonized urban mobility alternative, strengthening the resilience of the economy.

The President of AIRBUS Spain, Alberto Gutiérrez, emphasized that “this collaboration will be the basis for developing future sustainable urban and interurban air mobility technologies. “The construction of interconnected systems can only be achieved if all parties involved—government, regulation, and business—work hand in hand to achieve this collective goal,” he stated, “and this agreement marks the beginning of that era.”

For his part, the General Director of ENAIRE, Ángel Luis Arias, stated that “in the current difficult crisis, innovation takes on great importance as a facilitator of the aviation sector’s recovery. This collaboration agreement between Airbus and ENAIRE is a magnificent example of a shared commitment to driving innovation in the development of new technologies and operating concepts, such as digital and sustainable urban air mobility. With the efforts of both organizations, we aspire to position Spain among the world leaders in this new aviation sector.”

esfuerzo de ambas organizaciones, aspiramos a situar a España entre los lideres mundiales de este nuevo sector de la aviación.

ENAIRE’s Role and Interest in Urban Mobility

ENAIRE is responsible, among other things, for providing air traffic services for route and approach control, as well as air traffic control services.

At the same time, ENAIRE is also taking on new challenges in the field of automated operations management, which require new technologies, infrastructure, and concepts. This development will be a challenge in terms of ensuring simultaneous operations in densely populated environments, coexisting with drones and manned aircraft, which will require advanced and environmentally friendly aircraft and robust and reliable air traffic management systems such as U-Space.

“For the government, the involvement of ENAIRE and public investment in innovation and technology projects generates a driving effect on the aeronautical industry, which will translate into a boost to activity and the creation of quality jobs, something that is needed to support the recovery of a sector affected by the crisis and to incentivize the country’s digital and technological transition,” explained Pedro Saura, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda and President of ENAIRE.

AIRBUS as a technological benchmark

Faced with this enormous challenge, AIRBUS, as a European and global technology company, is a key partner in ENAIRE’s strategy and its commitment to society to develop new digital technologies that will allow for the continued modernization and improvement of air navigation services.

This objective requires the research and development of technologies in the field of conventional aviation, avionics and CNS systems, and the development of new technologies in the field of aviation and aerospace engineering. and in the facilitation of disruptive technologies and comprehensive solutions for the operation of autonomous vehicles, which allow us to anticipate the early and safe deployment and adoption of the concept of urban air mobility. In this sense, AIRBUS is a world leader in innovation and development not only of autonomous platforms, but also of the physical and digital infrastructures necessary to successfully advance toward this “immediate future” of air mobility.

ENAIRE and AIRBUS join forces in other areas

ENAIRE and AIRBUS also present numerous synergies related to the Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance services that ENAIRE provides to aircraft. In this regard, both entities can benefit from the validation testing of new systems, both on-board avionics and systems for providing these services on the ground and from satellites. In this regard, we can highlight:

– Validation testing of new Mode S transponders, ADS-B, and other surveillance technologies, as well as joint analysis of incidents related to these systems.

– Validation testing of new avionics for both conventional and satellite navigation, as well as joint analysis of incidents related to these systems.

Furthermore, this collaboration between ENAIRE and AIRBUS could also be very positive within the framework of the SESAR program.

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