The PODIUM project comprises four complementary, large scale demonstrations, taking place in Denmark, France and the Netherlands where more than 185 drone flights will be conducted. Its partners’ quick wins integrated UTM solution will be demonstrated in a broad range of realistic operational conditions of drone operations (VLOS and BVLOS) in VLL airspace (controlled & uncontrolled airspace; urban, rural and in the vicinity of airports) interacting with manned traffic. Each of its four sites has its own specificities (e.g. routine day to day operations, emphasis on UTM/ATM communication, normal/abnormal conditions). The demonstrations will notably enable its safe and secure use by various categories of users (e.g. authorities, drone operations, drone pilots) and for many types of drone operations (e.g. electricity line inspection, emergency services). Together the four sites demonstrations ensure a comprehensive and extensive demonstration of the full potential and technology readiness level of the PODIUM UTM functionalities (from Before-flight to Post-flight with a special focus on in-flight dynamic geo-fencing). PODIUM is a U-Space compliant demonstration. Under EUROCONTROL leadership, PODIUM consortium comprises 10 members,17 linked third parties and 4 sub-contractors, including many in-kind contributions. By bringing together drone actors (UTM provider, drone operators, drone trackers manufacturers), ATM actors (ANSPs, ATM system integrator & others) and infrastructure providers (drone demonstrations centers, telecommunication network) supported by their local authorities in its Advisory Board, PODIUM project will naturally improve the links between the drone and the ATM communities therefore contributing to a safer integration of drone operation in the European airspace and maximising the outreach of the project at regulatory and standardisation levels.

One essential goal of the Single European Sky is to improve the Interoperability of the Air Traffic Management (ATM) network. The SESAR approach towards this goal is the introduction of a 4D-trajectory, which is common across all ATM stakeholders, called Reference Business Trajectory (RBT). The Flight Object concept is seen as a key enabler for implementing the RBT for Air Navigation Service Providers. The main objective of PJ27 is the demonstration that Flight Object Interoperability works in a real world upper En-route airspace environment of Air Traffic Control Centers (ACCs) from DFS, DSNA, ENAV and EUROCONTROL over spanning a large area of European core airspace. The demonstration will be executed as a set of Shadow Mode trials during which Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) will use Flight Object and SWIM equipped systems and perform flight coordination and transfer operations on the current air traffic as well as fallback operations. The only difference to real operations is that the ATCOs clearances will not be sent to the real aircraft. The project will assess the benefits of the Flight Object to improve ATM Network performance and situational awareness supporting demand and capacity balancing between and within the participating ACCs. The demonstration is expected to provide a proof that the Flight Object Concept is ready for deployment as required in the AF#5 of the PCP Regulation (EU) No 716/2014. This demonstration is an important milestone for Air Navigation Service Providers and the Network Manager, because it will constitute an ultimate step of validation before these stakeholders will start PCP AF#5 deployment activities. Finally the demonstration will provide valuable input into the SESAR Deployment Programme which will facilitate the coordination of PCP AF#5 deployment roadmaps and deployment scenarios.

The Free Routing concept enables Airspace Users (AU) to fly as close as possible to their preferred trajectory, without being constrained by fixed airspace structures or fixed route networks. Free Routing (FR) implementation represents a step towards a less fragmented European airspace foreseen by Single European Sky (SES) and provides the AUs with the possibility to fly their user preferred routes in accordance with their business needs or mission requirements. FR will result in a seamless airspace enabling more efficient flight, a reduction in AU costs and will promote cheaper travel, increasing personal mobility and trade. In addition, implementing Free Routing Airspace (FRA) will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that currently contribute to global warming, thereby creating a greener airspace. FR was addressed within the SESAR 1 programme but additional R&D activities are required to support the implementation of FRA in high and very high complexity airspace (The EU Regulation No 716/2014 mandates FRA above FL 310 from 1 January 2022) and also to extend this implementation below FL310 thereby allowing other AUs to benefit (The European Air Traffic Management Master Plan version 2015 identifies the need for R&D work to support the management of performance-based Free Routing in lower airspace) The partners in PJ06 will validate both the benefit to AUs and the impact on ATM of this extension of FRA into complex airspace and lower vertical limits through modelling and Real Time Simulations. The results will seek to provide evidence that FRA can be implemented, cost effectively, in all the SES airspace. The PJ06 Consortium involves key stakeholders of ground industry, Air Navigation Services Providers, universities and EUROCONTROL and includes a wide range of expertise and competence, all committed to delivering high-quality results.

The Project encompasses the industrial research aimed to timely and efficiently create and use airspace capacity, in combination with targeted, effective demand and/or capacity measures. As such, it will focus on advanced levels of dynamic airspace configuration, Leveraging different virtualization models, digital INAP applications as well as Network-wide monitoring, all with high levels of automation. The project addresses the R&I need for on-demand air traffic services reflective of traffic demand, and the continuity of ATM service despite disruption. The project exploits the latest advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning, to supply a variety of supporting toolsets to ATM stakeholders that enable rapid exploration of options for the deployment of capacity-on-demand solutions, whenever and wherever required. The benefits include increased en-route capacity and improved cost-efficiency of ATS provision, without compromising the current safety levels.

The NETWORK Trajectory based operations (NETWORK TBO) project proposes to validate TBO SESAR Solutions covers all aspects of Trajectory management processes involving – but not limited to - Network actors. It covers both planning and execution phases. The proposed SESAR Solutions, with an indication of the Technology Readiness Levels (with the associated EOCVM level) at the end of the project, are: * Solution #1: TBO Planning and Impact on Execution. Taking as baseline FF-ICE/1 implementation in progress, this solution will develop focusing on the planning phase and the transition to execution including the EPP data improvement. (Target = TRL6 (V3)). * Solution NETWORK TBO-2: Strategic trajectory revision in execution. This solution will address trajectory management during the (strategic) execution phase, including a contribution to the development of the ICAO’s FF-ICE 2 TBO concept. (Target = TRL6 (V3)). * Solution NETWORK TBO-3: Improve both ATC and network processes through synchronization of network and local trajectories. This solution will aim in particular at improving information exchanges between the Network Manager and ANSPs in order to enable a reference Network 4D trajectory supporting coordination processes. (Target = TRL6 (V3)). The NETWORK TBO project consortium - with EUROCONTROL as the project coordinator, and with steering from the project management board and the SJU - brings together 9 air navigation service providers, 2 airspace users, 8 airborne and ground industry partners, 2 research establishments. The main 'design', 'development & validation', and 'data pack and maturity gate' phases are planned throughout the second half of 2023, 2024, 2025 and the first half of 2026. The NETWORK TBO IR project will be executed in strong coordination with European initiatives and projects related to TBO implementation as well as the ATMRPP ICAO working group ensuring complementary and maximising the R&D outputs towards implementation and standardisation.