The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) has launched a new call under the Connecting Europe Facility, containing provisions for a series of Digital European Sky Demonstrators for greener, more scalable and resilient air traffic management (ATM). The demonstrators are a key tool to support the SESAR Joint Undertaking’s vision of making Europe the most efficient and environmentally friendly sky to fly in the world. The selected demonstrators are expected to be launched in 2024 and to run until 2027.
The demonstrators will contribute to achieving the objective of net‐zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 set by the European Green Deal, in line with the EU’s commitment to global climate action under the Paris Agreement. The call will also enable a more flexible, scalable, resilient, safe and secure ATM that can withstand disruptions in the aviation system.
The SESAR-related topics covered by the call (CEF-T-2023-SIMOBGEN-SESAR-DSDU-WORKS) support several of the nine flagships outlined in SESAR 3 Joint undertaking’s multiannual work programme. They cover the following:
Ground Based Augmentation System demonstrations leading to environmental benefits for airports and terminal manoeuvring areas (TMAs)
Addresses the deployment of GBAS for CAT II and III operations in European airports and TMAs, which have the potential to unlock substantial environmental benefits such as reduced noise and CO2 emissions by improving precision approach, landing and departure in all-weather conditions, thereby increasing operational efficiency and capacity.
Trajectory-based operations enabling the aviation green deal
Covers trajectory-based operations (TBO), which is the cornerstone of the SESAR vision to optimise the capacity of Europe’s sky, while enabling greener and more predictable air travel. Key capabilities and solutions that make TBO possible include the interoperability between ground systems, and the downlinking of aircraft trajectories into ground systems.
Long-haul flight SWIM-enabled in-flight trajectory optimisation
Addresses system-wide information exchange (SWIM) to help optimise trajectories in-flight in particular for long-haul flights using a flight and flow information for a collaborative environment (FF-ICE) flight plan. This allows the airspace users to request from the ATM system a strategic revision of the trajectory of an airborne flight with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of the flight, e.g. in response to updated weather information.
Greener ATM operations at European airports
Sees the introduction of a series of environmental indicators. The monitoring of the airport environmental performance can trigger the implementation of potential solutions to reduce the airport’s impact on noise and emissions near the airport.
Scalable and resilient network management operations
Aims to improve network management operations e.g. traffic flow management, flight planning and airspace user fleet management and airport operations management and their connection with the network. Also in scope are a range of solutions addressing airports and the delegation of ATC services within the framework of virtual centres.
The Digital Sky Demonstrators will integrate technological solutions, which have been matured in SESAR research, into live operational environments in order to deliver the Digital European Sky.
The demonstrators are part of an innovation pipeline designed by the SESAR Joint 3 Undertaking to bridge the gap between industrial research and deployment, accelerating market uptake. Critical to their success will be the involvement of early movers, as well as a strong and close connection with relevant standardisation and regulatory activities and bodies.
Applicants should submit their proposal electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System before 30 January 2024 at 17.00 CET.
