Honeywell is a global leader in unmanned aviation technologies, creating innovative capabilities that power the next generation of advanced air mobility vehicles

Honeywell will develop and mature key technology enablers for safe deployment of IAM in European ATM such as Contingency Management, Autoland Function, Energy Efficient Approach, Ground Control Station

Aena is the first airport operator by number of passengers in the world, managing 80 worldwide. We have 46 airports and 2 heliports in Spain, London Luton in the UK, 17 airports in Brazil and we participate in the management of 12 airports in Mexico, 2 in Colombia and 2 in Jamaica. In 2022, more than 341Mpax passed through our airports.

AENA will provide the ground infrastructure and vertiports in Malaga and Granda-Jaen airports, attending to the airport’s operability and capacity without compromising safety. During the project, Aena will support the definition of operations, risks (i.e., land side integration problems or impact in airport capacity), opportunities, technical specifications related to vertiports infrastructure development and planning in an airport environment, exploring the outcomes and supporting the definition of the route map of eVTOL integration, enabling UAM without affecting the usual operativity of an airport, according to pax demand and capacity. AENA will bear regulatory and technical challenges that outcomes from this project, pointing the certification and regulation of vertiports operations.

ENAIRE is the company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda that manages air navigation in Spain. It is designated to provide en-route and approach control services from control centers in Barcelona, Madrid, Gran Canaria, Palma, and Seville. Additionally, ENAIRE offers aerodrome control services at 21 airports, including the busiest ones, and provides communication, navigation, and surveillance services to 45 air control towers. As one of Europe’s leading air navigation service providers, ENAIRE is involved in R&D and project management related to airspace and air navigation, including Urban Air Mobility and U-space.

ENAIRE will contribute to OperA project by means of integrating regional air mobility flights between Málaga and Granada airports into current airspace, including vertiport location definition within airport environment, designing PBN flight procedure specific for this type of operations, and the support of the flights with our ATS services and our U-space platform (both as a Common Information Services Provider (CISP) and U-space services Provider (USSP)).

EUROCONTROL is a pan-European, civil-military organisation dedicated to supporting European aviation by delivering technical excellence across the full spectrum of air traffic management (ATM). Its activities touch on operations, service provision, concept development, research and innovation, Europe-wide project implementation, performance improvements, coordination with key aviation players at various levels as well as providing support to the future evolution and strategic orientations of aviation. The EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub in Brétigny, France leads the Agency’s innovation activities, with particular focus on drones, Urban Air Mobility, aviation sustainability and the application of AI to aviation. It is also a major contributor to the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) research programme, and a leading European simulation centre with unique expertise and facilities enabling us to simulate and validate airspace redesigns and innovative concepts.

The EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub is contributing to OperA focusing on concept of operations, standards, regulations, and inter-project coordination. We support the assessment of the consistency of OperA use cases with the U-space concept of operations. We coordinate the activities related to standards and regulations, from identifying their applicability up to the provision of recommendations and considerations to the ecosystem built upon OperA trials. Finally, we manage the inter-projects coordination leveraging our involvement in multiple SESAR3 projects.

“The Austrian company Frequentis is a global supplier of communication and information systems for control centres with safety-critical tasks. Frequentis develops and markets its ‘control centre solutions’ and services in the business sectors Air Traffic Management (civil and military air traffic control, air defence and UTM) and Public Safety & Transport (police, fire brigades, emergency rescue services, railways, coastguards, port authorities).
With a market share of 30%, Frequentis is the world market leader in voice communication systems for air traffic control. It is also the global leader in aeronautical information management and aeronautical message handling systems. Products and solutions from Frequentis can be found in over 45,000 operator working positions and in approximately 150 countries.”

“Within Solution B, “U-space for autonomous unmanned cargo”, of the OperA Project, Frequentis contributes with U-space services and a SWIM-based Common Information System (CIS) to ensure effective collaboration among all stakeholders (ANSPs, USSPs and UAM operators), guaranteeing a serviceable and fully interoperable ATM/UAM ecosystem. The provided ATM-grade airspace management functionality for the ANSPs enables efficient UAM operations in the shared airspace and a cross-border environment. Frequentis supports and enables the demonstration flights from the CIS and U-space perspective.
Frequentis also contributes to the definition of data models and the logical information flow that is needed for the definition and implementation of the interfaces required to provide safe, orderly, and efficient UAM cross-border operations.”

Founded in 2020 and based in Vienna, SKYZR is an innovative corporate start-up of the renowned Frequentis Group. We have made it our mission to actively support customers and drone operators across industries in contacting and conducting commercial drone operations in an intuitive and regulation-compliant process. In addition, we offer customised software solutions that enable reliable flight planning through risk assessments and simplify approval processes. In this way, we reduce the administrative burden and increase the efficiency and safety of drone operations. With hundreds of registered drone pilots, we are proud to offer a comprehensive network of service providers capable of performing a wide range of tasks.

Within OperA, SKYZR contributes its know-how and technology regarding SORA risk assessment with special focus on privacy and noise factors.

State joint stock company “Latvijas gaisa satiksme” (LGS) provides Air traffic control services and information in the air space of the Republic of Latvia and in part of the air space over the international waters of the Baltic Sea (within the Riga Flight Information Region) since 1991. For this purpose, the Riga Air Traffic Control (ATC) Centre has been established and equipped with state-of-the-art air navigation equipment (radar, surveillance, communication and navigation equipment). The Riga ATC centre is comprised of four sectors providing air traffic control services for transit flights, as well as aircraft arriving and departing from the Riga and Liepāja airports. Air traffic control towers are located at both the Riga and Liepāja airports in order to provide information for aircraft during take-off and landing.

Latvian ANSP role is to support the validation of the concept providing the coordination of Drone Flight as in uncontrolled as in controlled Latvian airspace. The major challenge will be to synchronize and coordinate the activities with UAS Operator (Pipistrel) and neighboring ANSP (ORO Navigacija), especially taking into account that the type of the drone flight will be BVLOS. According to the preliminary plan the flight(s) will be organized between two airports (Palanga and Liepaja), so it will be required to “fit” those flights into the regular and irregular air traffic at both airports and provide the necessary support during the flight in uncontrolled airspace. LGS will dedicate the TWR controller for the whole duration of the project and FIS controller for the Validation and Trials part. There will be the Operational Expert from UTM area, who will contribute to the Review of the concept and to preparation and provision of the Trials. The technical support will be provided by the engineer, who will assist the industry partners with integration of the technical solutions into LGS environment. The coordinator from LGS part will also act as a local Project Manager.

Lilium is creating a sustainable and accessible mode of high-speed, regional transportation for people and goods. Using the Lilium Jet, an all-electric vertical take-off and landing jet offering leading capacity, low noise, and high performance with zero operating emissions, Lilium is accelerating the decarbonization of air travel.

Lilium will contribute to the further development of the UAM/IAM CONOPS and new flight/ airspace integration procedures for visual meteorological conditions (VMC) & instrumental meteorological conditions (IMC) both inside and outside CTR, the definition of requirements for the procedure and sector design, the potential integration of digital comms system in demonstration platforms, and the organization and execution of validation exercise, incl. potential demonstration flights.

Lilium will also contribute by supporting the analysis of the existing regulatory and standardization framework, the discussions and exchange with EASA, the national authorities, and regulators to set the developed results as new standard procedures for the evolution of current regulations, standards & certification in EU and the national member states.

Oro Navigacija, the Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) of Lithuania rendering ATS, ATC, ASM, FPD, ATFM, CNS as well as AIS services in Vilnius FIR. The company also ensures continuous operation of ARC center (search and rescue coordination). Actively participating in various SESAR projects since SESAR2020 W1. Oro Navigacija is planning to become single CIS and first U-space service provider in Lithuania. The experience in various SESAR projects and namely in PJ13 ERICA and PJ34 AURA will be useful for participation in the OperA project.

In coordination with partners preparation of Use Cases and CONOPS
Contribution to project datapack: OSED (parts SAR/HPA, OSED, responsibility between ground control/and ANSP), VALP, VALR. Enable demonstrations from Palanga airport (on-site premises, ATC equipment, ATCOs, experts). Collaborate with FRQ and LGS (and other partners) on CIS and U-space implementation for Palanga CTR
Liaise with Transporto kompetencijų agentūra (Lithuanian CAA) for the necessary approvals / permissions for a UAS flight. Support discussions with EASA and national authorities on legislation enhancement. Participation in Communication&Dissemination activities with focus on project exercise preparation, execution and finally results promotion. Supporting open days and other.

Vertical Aerospace is a pioneering company at the forefront of electric air mobility in the UK. Our mission is to revolutionize the way people travel by developing an innovative electric aircraft that is safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly. With a team of talented engineers and aviation experts, we are dedicated to creating the next generation of aircraft that will enable sustainable aerial mobility and a more connected future.

The main contribution from Vertical Aerospace will be the development of the “Autoland” function in collaboration with Honeywell to guide the aircraft to an energy-efficient controlled descent. The other part of the contribution will be the development of a “Decision Engine” function, to provide the pilot with recommended actions for normal and contingency situations. Both functions have the aim of increasing the safety and efficiency of operations in different airspaces.

Pipistrel Vertical Solutions is the R&D and Certification division of Pipistrel. PVS develops its own battery systems, power controllers and electric motors for small and general aviation class of aircraft and is the only company globally to have obtained EASA approval for propulsion-class batteries to be used in aviation for commercial application as part of a Type Certificate. In its 30 years of experience, Pipistrel has grown from an enthusiastic hobby hang-glider garage manufacturer into a world-renowned small aircraft producer, recognized by leading global aviation authorities. Their vision is to shape the future of aviation by developing and delivering cutting-edge solutions, which are personalized, safe, environmentally friendly and enable affordable ways of flying to everyone.

Pipistrel is leading OperA IAM Solution B: U-space for autonomous unmanned cargo with the aim to develop and validate the cross-border unmanned long-range large-cargo operations with new IAM procedures, advanced U3/U4 U-Space services, and robust airborne ground integration. Validation will be concluded with a flight demonstration carried out with Pipistrel long-range large cargo autonomous unmanned aircraft, designed and built by Pipistrel.

Pipistrel is also contributing to ensure consistency, integration, consolidation of the project contribution to standardisation and regulation that are important enablers for the IAM operations deployment other than to communicate and disseminate project outcomes to stakeholders and contribute to social acceptance of IAM in order to maximize impact to the whole industry.