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ECACNEWS
SUMMER 2021
#73
European Civil Aviation Conference Magazine
UNMANNED AIRCRAFT
SYSTEMS
Shaping the future of our skies
CONTENTS
1 EDITORIAL
Raúl Medina Caballero
DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
2 An integrated vision of transport planning with drones
and smart mobility in Spain
Mariluz de Mateo and Isabel del Pozo de Poza
7 U-space: How digitalisation will disrupt aviation
Larissa Haas
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
12 Making urban air mobility a reality for Europe and its citizens
Patrick Ky
15 European development of U-space and EUROCONTROL’s projects
and initiatives to support it
EUROCONTROL
19 Remote ID and UTM: in the United States
Jay Merkle
21 UAS – a new paradigm for aviation regulators
Declan Fitzpatrick
24 Registration system in Portugal and related legislation
Fábio Camacho
SECURITY AND SAFETY
29 Cyber security for UAS/drones
José Luis Del Carmen
32 Drone incursions at airports – getting the response right
Phil Dykins
34 Drone collisions: myth versus reality
Bill English and Catherine Gagne
ECACNEWS PUBLIC PERCEPTION
#73 – Summer 2021
Publication Director 38 Getting public support – the key to the future of drones
Patricia Reverdy in urban areas
Editorial Committee Jonathan Nicholson
Patricia Reverdy, Simona Wist,
Gillian Caw INNOVATIONS AND FUTURE
Editor
Gillian Caw
41 UAS applications for maritime search and rescue
gcaw@ecac-ceac.org Néstor Perales and Luis Pérez Sanz
Designer 45 Technology drivers and testing centres for the growth
Bernard Artal Graphisme
Cover: © yupiramos of the UAS sector
Ph: © CEAC Patricia Argerey
ECAC News welcomes feedback NEWS FROM ECAC & JAA TO
and content ideas from interested
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The opinions printed in ECAC 50 ECAC in brief and events to come
News are those of the authors
alone and do not necessarily 53 News from the JAA TO
reflect the opinions of ECAC
or its Member States.
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Editorial
Raúl Medina Caballero
Director General of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Transport,
Mobility and Urban Agenda, Spain, and ECAC Focal Point
for Unmanned Aircraft Systems
W
th
ith just a few weeks to go until the 39 Plenary (Triennial) Session in
July, ECAC is pleased to present a special edition of ECAC News on one
of the most innovative segments of the aviation sector that has been growing
in size and popularity in recent years: unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
Since 2014, when the European Commission gave the initial backing
through its Communication “A new era for aviation”, the drone sector in Europe
has experienced exponential growth. Drones have proven their versatility in
several applications, and they improve our efficiency and quality of life.
Since then, numerous regulatory initiatives have been promoted by States
with the aim of regulating this new sector. In recent years, this effort has
focused on harmonising the rules that make up the global framework for the
design, manufacture, operation and marketing, amongst others, of these
aircraft within a European context.
In addition to regulations, a myriad of advances have been made in the
technological field. In Europe, projects have been promoted to demonstrate
this technology, showing States’ industrial capacity in the ECAC region and
its potential to develop innovative solutions associated with drones. There is
still some way to go, however; the complete harmonisation of drone
operations, development of their full potential in cities and populated areas
and urban air mobility are, among other things, significant milestones that
are likely to be reached in the near future, always under the irrevocable
premise of safety.
Society’s acceptance of this type of technology will be a key element for
a high social penetration of applications with this type of aircraft; this way,
the sustainable growth of this technology will be possible.
On the other hand, it is absolutely essential to integrate operations
harmoniously and completely safely with those of traditional aviation,
respecting the operation of airport infrastructures and avoiding risks caused
by unauthorised or unplanned incursions. To make this integration possible,
regulatory and technological initiatives are being promoted to develop the
U-space concept within the European context – a new UAS traffic management
paradigm.
This edition of ECAC News promotes all of the above, and seeks to
enhance the exchange of knowledge among ECAC Member States and to
foster debate on strategic issues for UAS development. You will read about
the challenges and opportunities of this segment of activity, regulatory issues,
the latest progress towards developing the U-space concept, cyber security
issues, and social acceptance and innovation, among others.
This has been made possible thanks to the expertise and collaboration of
the authors, all of whom are noteworthy specialists participating actively in
the development of this activity. We would like to thank each of them for their
great contributions!
ECAC NEWS #73 1
DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
An integrated vision of transport planning with drones
and smart mobility in Spain
Mariluz de Mateo (ENAIRE)
Business Development Director at ENAIRE
Isabel del Pozo de Poza (Airbus)
Senior expert in the field of ATM and Civil
Operations, Head of Mission Management,
Vice President
low-risk commercial operations are roadmap towards a nationwide
Setting the stage flourishing around Europe. Never- deployment of U-space and drone
for smart mobility and theless, the main hindrance to operations.
nominal operations is the lack of This roadmap starts by accom-
U-space U-space. modating and subsequently inte-
The COVID-19 pandemic has grating new drone operations that
T he aerospace industry is mov-
ing incredibly quickly with inno-
been a systemic shock, and the rip-
ple effect of the global health crisis
not only provide a quick benefit to
society but can also help achieve
vations in aircraft types, sizes and has severely impacted worldwide social interest and acceptance.
flight capabilities. The introduction economies. With air travel severely Examples of such operations are
of these new vehicles is no longer reduced, aviation has been one of those supporting emergency med-
a question of if, but when – and to the hardest hit industries. Rebuild- ical services, sanitary transport of
support this growth, a more mod- ing is not an option but a necessity medicines and distress relief by
ernised and scalable approach to and we are compelled to do better transporting goods to areas with
air traffic management is needed. by integrating key steps towards difficult access. Enabling these au-
UTM (unmanned aircraft sys- our sustainable and digital targets. tonomous operations will support
tem (UAS) traffic management) – or Thus, led by the Spanish Min- the identification of requirements
U-space – is driving the eventual istry of Transport, Mobility and and standards to push the Euro-
future of digital services for all Urban Agenda, through the Direc- pean regulation further, and step
airspace users. While key technol- torate General of Civil Aviation and by step will enable more complex
ogy challenges such as autonomy a strong collaboration between Air- operations until not only cargo
are closely related to any UAS activ- bus and ENAIRE, together with transport in urban areas is achieved,
ity, it is the digitalisation of the many other key stakeholders both but ultimately autonomous air trans-
airspace and traffic management from private and public industries, port of passengers in urban envi-
with UTM as its accelerator that will it is time to establish a concrete ronments.
guarantee the safe integration of
new operations and new vehicles
in our skies. In this sense, digitalisa-
tion and autonomy must go hand
in hand.
The modernisation of our ATM
system is not only relevant to facil-
itate fair access to new operations,
but it also plays a key role in meet-
ing Europe’s self-imposed environ-
ment targets. There is no way
around the much-needed digitali-
sation of our traffic management
system and now is the time to act.
As a result of EASA’s recently
approved regulatory framework for
drones and U-space, proposals for
2 ECAC NEWS #73
An integrated vision of transport planning with drones and smart mobility in Spain
I DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Benefitting from favourable
weather in all its regions and hav-
ing a relevant number of drone
centres across the territory to test
different instances of use and dif-
ferent approaches on how to secure,
combine and integrate unmanned
and manned operations, as well as
the required communication, navi-
gation and surveillance capabilities
both on board and on the ground/in
airspace, Spain is certainly a good
partner to advance towards a fair
and safe, sustainable and efficient
access in the future of airspace and
traffic management to enable
seamless and interoperable progress
all across the EU. Furthermore, it is remarkable page to request flight plans in con-
that last February ENAIRE and Air- trolled airspace for non-standard
The Spanish institu- bus signed a collaboration protocol flights, such as drones, fireworks,
to share knowledge and exploit paragliding, etc., cutting down the
tional framework synergies to accelerate progress in time to obtain the approval of the
the deployment of urban air mobil- flight plans. But despite these ef-
T heity Ministry of Transport, Mobil-
and Urban Agenda, through
ity – in U-space particularly – in
Spain. Through this collaboration
forts, as long as the requests for
authorisation increase, the system
the Directorate General of Civil and the signature of the protocol, runs the risk of collapse not only
Aviation (DGAC) and the Aviation ENAIRE and Airbus will maximise because of the increased number
Safety and Security Agency (AESA), efficiency by their participation of manually processed authorisa-
has been deeply involved in the – together with other relevant part- tions and paperwork but also due
development of the civil drone sec- ners, including institutional ones – to the ATC (air traffic controller) ca-
tor in Spain, addressing the UAS in different initiatives, either pro- pacity supported by the system.
operations as early as 2014 so as to grammatic, regulatory, or techno- However, U-space, the Euro-
later, by the end of 2017, issue a logical at national and European pean Union UTM concept first illus-
first UAS-specific regulatory frame- levels, and with a focus on projects trated back in 2017 in the “U-space
work. This interim regulation enabled to make urban air mobility a reality Blueprint” published by the SESAR
the growth of drone operations in across Europe. Joint Undertaking (JU), comes to
Spain until the entry into force of alleviate the digitalisation of the
Regulation (EU) 2019/947.
The concrete UAS whole drone flight management,
At the end of 2020, the Ministry being able to automatically cope
of Transport, Mobility and Urban and U-space challenge with a large number of simultane-
Agenda published the Strategy for in Spain and the role ous beyond-visual line of site
Safe, Secure, Sustainable and Con- (BVLOS) drone operations flying
nected Mobility. This strategy, fore- of ENAIRE very low level (VLL) in the same
seeing the adoption of the new part of the airspace. In this concrete
Tin Spain:
regulatory framework by 2021, he drone sector has increased context, in early 2018 the SESAR JU
highlights in its part 5 – Smart Mo- exponentially in recent years launched a call for U-space demon-
bility, U-space services as the lever in 2020 alone, the drone strators to establish U-space
for growth of the Spanish drone operations coordinated by ENAIRE demonstrators all across Europe
service sector. This mobility strat- totalled 1646, a 207% increase and carry out demonstrations be-
egy will be the enabler of a safe compared to 2019 (536) and 362% fore the end of 2019 “to compre-
and secure integration of the urban more than in 2018 (358). hensively prepare and eliminate
air mobility (UAM) in smart cities, This increasing activity poses a the risk of a rapid deployment of
and identifies as essential the de- challenge to ENAIRE for safely man- U-space initial services (U2) as out-
ployment and operation by the aging operations in coordination lined in the U-space Blueprint.”
common information services with manned aviation. ENAIRE has ENAIRE led one of the six finally
provider (CISP) to support the pro- deployed different tools for drone SESAR JU-awarded big projects for
vision of these services and the pilots to improve the visual infor- grants: DOMUS, a 17-partner con-
integration of recurrent and densi- mation of zones where drone sortium, €4 M budget, with the most
fied drone operations in the na- flights are or are not allowed – complete set of U-space services
tional aviation system with high ENAIRE Drones in 2018, and for demonstration (from U1 to U3),
integrity rates. PLANEA in summer 2020, the web- over an architecture based on a
ECAC NEWS #73 3
DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES I An integrated vision of transport planning with drones and smart mobility in Spain
ENAIRE is going to play a key
role in managing unmanned aerial
traffic as future provider of common
information services in U-space in
the different pieces of the Spanish
airspace. In this regard, the current
planning for the deployment of
U-space services in Spain includes,
between 2021 and 2022, the vali-
dation and implementation of ini-
tial basic services for users, and
subsequently, in 2023, the launch-
ing of the CIS based upon a single
CIS provider, in line with the U-space
centralised architecture referred to
in the European U-space regula-
tion. At the same time, ENAIRE,
central “Ecosystem Manager” look- whose entry into force is scheduled born out of this particular architec-
ing after up to three different for January 2023, either through ture, will play an additional role as
U-space service providers. From a contributions to the national repre- a public USSP (U-space service
U-space operations centre located sentatives in the group of experts provider) for government and law
in Madrid at the Ministry of Trans- and CANSO or directly in the differ- enforcement agencies, among oth-
port, Mobility and Urban Agenda’s ent workshops held all over the ers, such as competent authorities
premises, the successful live- consultation period. This regulation and privileged users, as well as to
streamed demonstrations took introduces specific rules and proce- ensure the provision of U-space
place by late 2019 at the ATLAS (Air dures; at the same time it identifies services in the absence of other
Traffic Laboratory for Advanced the organisations involved to man- USSPs.
unmanned Systems) fields, a test age a large number of simultane- Additionally, ENAIRE continues
flight centre for UAS and RPAS lo- ous BVLOS drones operations in to participate in some of the most
cated in Villacarrillo (Jaen), and the segregated U-space airspace, with innovative projects in the field of
Ancora Centre for UAS experimen- a high degree of automation and U-space; for instance, AURA, which
tal flights in Lugo, run by ITG (Insti- digitalisation for a safe, secure and – led by Indra and with the partici-
tuto Tecnológico de Galicia), with efficient integration in the airspace, pation of Airbus – will explore and
ENAIRE CED (Centro de Experi- paving the way for the deployment dig for ways and standards for
mentación y Desarrollo) as the ATC of the urban air mobility, which is defining data exchange between
unit. It provided an example for the expected for 2025. In some studies, U-space and ATM. Other projects in
full integration of drones in a worldwide turnover of €30 000 M which ENAIRE participates also
airspace and the maturity of cur- is estimated for 2035, with 15 000 have a big social impact, such as
rent technologies to even reach units of operational vehicles. Other those related to urban air mobility
U3 services and, most important, European studies indicate that which, under a U-space environ-
demonstrating the efficiencies and in 2025 we may have a market ment, aim to safely, securely, sus-
benefits of an architecture based volume of more than €1500 M. tainably, orderly and efficiently run
on a central core element for data In its initial phase, U-space will air taxi operations in a controlled
interchange and interface with be limited to a defined, segregated and fully integrated airspace, with-
ATM, later on enshrined in the airspace designated for the exclu- out undue impact on safety and ca-
U-space regulation as the single sive use of drones, mostly operating pacity or work overloading in ATM.
Common Information Service in VLL, although in the medium-long These latter respond to pilot initia-
Provider. As indicated, the DOMUS term future it will be able to guar- tives under the Single European
project was integrated as part of antee drone operations in all oper- Sky (SESAR JU) framework, with
the European network of U-space ating environments and airspaces. very large-scale demonstrations
demonstrations contained within For the deployment of U-space, and validations with real flights to
the SESAR2020 Programme. the regulation lays out the services be carried out in 2022. Demonstra-
From its experience with needed for its operation, such as tions of air taxi flights in Spain will
DOMUS and its participation in remote identification, authorised be performed in Santiago de Com-
other national and European lead- flight service, geo-awareness, traf- postela (AMU-LED project) and
ing projects, ENAIRE has been able fic information as well as the com- Villacarrillo (USPACE4UAM project),
to actively participate in the devel- mon information service (CIS), an as well as unmanned urban parcel
opment of the U-space package essential set of dynamic and static delivery flights at Playa de Castelde-
regulation recently adopted by the operational and non-operational fels in Barcelona (CORUS-XUAM
European Commission on 22 April data supplied reliably and in real Project, a project coordinated by
2021 after its approval by the EASA time to ensure the safety and effi- EUROCONTROL, led and carried out
Committee in February 2021 and ciency of operations. by the consortium which delivered
4 ECAC NEWS #73
An integrated vision of transport planning with drones and smart mobility in Spain
I DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
the CORUS U-Space Concept of required to enable UAM opera- Airbus UTM relies on research, sim-
Operations in 2019, which intends to tions, with a key emphasis on UTM. ulations, and industry collabora-
also identify new U3/U4 U-space Airbus has developed and success- tion, contributing to the definition
services). fully flown two eVTOL demonstra- of future global standards. This
ENAIRE is addressing all these tors (Vahana and CityAirbus) and transformation has to be a collabo-
challenges through its new strate- has developed and deployed a set rative effort, not only across conti-
gic plan (2021-2025): Flight Plan of UTM digital services that can nents and countries but especially
2025. Given the new outlook and enable the safe and fair integration across private and public stake-
the far-reaching transformation of UAS and future UAM vehicles in holders.
taking place in the European air non-segregated airspace. From its headquarters in Spain,
navigation sector, this plan will fol- Airbus UTM, which was launched Airbus UTM is contributing to
low on with ENAIRE’s modernisa- as a core activity to enable future several SESAR activities aiming at
tion and transformation process, UAM operations, has now become the development and deployment
including a specific plan engaging a transversal organisation integrated of the future European U-space
the European Union developments, with the ATM division of Airbus ecosystem. We collaborate closely
to provide for U-space/UAM traffic Commercial and headquartered in with ENAIRE, especially in the
management services in total har- Getafe (Spain). Airbus UTM is de- aforementioned AURA and the
mony with ATM, and to serve the signing and building the digital VLD AMU-LED (https://www.sesarju.
future new entrants such as air taxis. services necessary to enable new eu/projects/AMU-LED) projects. In
airspace users to access and oper- these, Airbus UTM is leveraging ad-
ate in non-segregated airspace in a vanced prototypes of UTM services,
The role of Airbus to safe and efficient manner. Airbus simulation tools and a cloud plat-
support the Spanish UTM is currently providing services form tailored to support UTM ser-
to UAS operators (for example vices at scale. In addition, Airbus
developments through the provision of airspace UTM is also leveraging its experi-
authorisations services in the United ence as a key contributor to NASA’s
National Challenge on Advanced
A irbus is a pioneer of UAM and
remains at the forefront of the
States as a qualified provider under
the LAANC (Low Altitude Autho- Air Mobility (https://www.nasa.gov/
aamnationalcampaign).
transformation of global air trans- rization and Notification Capability)
port into an environmentally sus- programme of the Federal Aviation Airbus is ready to focus on a
tainable ecosystem. Airbus has Administration) while contributing large variety of digital services to
approached UAM in a holistic man- to shape the future European support the integration of au-
ner, focusing not only on new elec- U-space ecosystem in Europe and tonomous operations at different
tric vehicles (eVTOLs or electric testing UTM-enabled automated complexity levels, to meet the re-
vertical take-off and landing) for shore-to-ship cargo delivery in Sin- quirements and standards to push
urban and suburban passenger gapore, among other pioneering our European regulation, to iden-
transport, but also considering the activities across the world. In order tify roadmaps for the deployment
urban infrastructure, multimodality to contribute to the digitisation of nominal autonomous opera-
and airspace integration solutions and automation of the future sky, tions incrementally, and to deploy
Integration of autonomous operations at different complexity levels
ECAC NEWS #73 5
DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES I An integrated vision of transport planning with drones and smart mobility in Spain
communication, navigation and As a first result of this collabo- wards the national Plan for Recov-
surveillance solutions adapted to ration, ENAIRE and Airbus are already ery, Transformation and Resilience,
the capabilities required by the new enhancing coordination in the UAM, approved last December by the
operations, vehicles, performances participating in the SESAR JU pro- Spanish government and to be
and operational environments. jects, AURA and AMU-LED to iden- funded through the European
tify and deliver quick gains in the Commission Recovery and Re-
silience Facility instrument within
The importance of Spanish operations environment
the framework of the NextGenera-
for an early implementation of the
collaboration among all validated solutions. tionEU Programme. This will not
only allow for resource optimisa-
relevant stakeholders But highly relevant and much tion and use of EU funds but will
more decisive for Spain is also the also provide the much-needed
A ll in all, an efficient develop- collaboration, along with other alignment among different regional
ment towards a smart mobility major Spanish stakeholders from and national initiatives, working
implementation supported by au- the aeronautical industry, to take together with the perspective of a
tonomous, unmanned operations the initiative to work together and homogenous, synchronised and
necessarily urges the collaboration push for a coherent proposal on a prompt deployment of first full
and joint proactivity among the national U-space/UAM project to- U-space operations. ■
different stakeholders and actors
involved.
By signing the collaboration
protocol, ENAIRE and Airbus will
ensure complementarity from their
respective areas of activity in avia-
tion, and will maximise efficiency
through their participation – along
with other relevant partners, in-
cluding institutional ones – in dif-
ferent initiatives: programmatic,
regulatory, or technological, at na-
tional and European levels and
with a focus on current projects to
make UAM a reality across Europe.
Mariluz de Mateo holds a master’s degree in telecommunications engineering from the Technic University of Madrid
(Spain) and has over 32 years of experience in the space and ATM fields. She started her professional career in
1988 at the European Space Agency (ESA), Noordwijk (the Netherlands), where she was responsible for the
technical management of various contracts with the European aerospace industry in the fields of satellite
communications and navigation (GNSS). In 1995, she became responsible for the technical management of the
European EGNOS navigation satellite system. Mariluz joined Aena (at that time the Spanish ANSP) in 1996 and
was appointed head of the EGNOS Programme Office. In 2005, she was appointed head of the GNSS Development
Division; in July 2008, head of strategy and planning; and in March 2012, head of international development and
convergence. Since June 2017, she has been Business Development Director at ENAIRE (former Aena, and Spanish
ANSP since 2014) where she is responsible for managing ENAIRE’s strategic planning activities and all the
international relationships, policies, business development activities and international programmes, including
ENAIRE’s participation in the SESAR programme. She is responsible for the deployment of the U-space services
in ENAIRE. Mariluz has authored numerous technical publications in various international conferences and journals.
Isabel del Pozo de Poza has over 10 years of experience in the ATM field. She has been actively involved in the
European ATM Master Plan updates and the European drone roadmap in the last decade. She participated in
common initiatives between SESAR and NextGen, supporting the trajectory-based operation concept on both ATM
modernisation programmes. Isabel studied aeronautics at TU Munich and holds a PhD addressing the “Assessment
of Fairness and Equity in Trajectory-Based Air Traffic Management” from the University of Glasgow. She joined
Airbus Helicopters in 2013 where she acted as an expert and subsequently as a senior expert in the field of ATM
and civil operations while also heading the Department for Mission Management. She leads the ATM/UTM R&T
roadmap across Airbus and in 2018 was appointed Head of Airspace Management – UTM within the Airbus Urban
Air Mobility Organisation. As vice president, Isabel promotes the vision of an integrated air traffic management to
ensure the safe, sustainable and efficient integration of more digital, autonomous, and new operations.
6 ECAC NEWS #73
DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
U-space: how digitalisation
will disrupt aviation (1)
Larissa Haas
Scientific Advisor for Innovative Technologies,
Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), Switzerland
Applications of UAS have grown rapidly in recent years. Let us think, for example, of logistics,
agriculture, data mapping, surveillance, and disaster management. All of these cases suggest that
UAS not only come with remarkable efficiency and safety gains, but also with increasing economic
significance (2). In order to make best use of the emerging potential of UAS, civil aviation authorities
(CAAs) worldwide have developed effective regulatory and legislative frameworks and standards.
An overview from a Swiss perspective.
W hat do the emergence of
the steam engine, railways,
telephone, electricity and the inter-
this regulatory measure is a pre-
requisite for the evolvement of in-
novative UAS operations, it becomes
the article further elaborates on
this argument, highlighting the
value of U-space when it comes
net have in common? All of these apparent that a future-proof and to achieving key decarbonisation,
technologies transformed the way well-functioning aviation system digitalisation and resilience ambi-
people live and work, how they needs an additional architectural tions in aviation. The text outlines
manufacture products, provide ser- layer that allows for innovative, the relevance of the U-space regu-
vices, travel, and communicate (3). complex and scalable use of UAS. It lation for the transport and logistic
Furthermore, they enabled great was back in summer 2018 in the landscape as a whole, taking the
productivity gains, disrupted many ECAC News #66 (5) when FOCA pro- United Nations’ Sustainable Devel-
industries and sectors and became moted a coordinated approach on opment Goals (SDGs) as analytical
an integral part in the global econ- the U-space, highlighting the need tool. In the last section, the text ex-
omy (4). One particular technology for a regulatory framework that will pands this framework by focusing
that falls in the same basket of dis- allow for the scalability of UAS. In on the ultimate goal of providing
ruptive innovations is unmanned April 2021, less than three years all aviation actors fair access to
aircraft systems (UAS). later, the European Commission airspace (7).
In order to make best use of published the first regulatory pack-
the emerging potential of UAS, the age for the U-space (managing
European Union implemented airspace traffic for UAS), setting the Fostering new
regulations (EU) 2019/947 and (EU) conceptual baseline for UAS to technologies for more
2019/945 and set the baseline for access airspace safely in parallel to
the safe operation of UAS in Euro- manned aviation (6). efficiency
pean skies. Switzerland actively By taking the regulatory frame-
contributed to the creation of this
regulatory framework, especially
work for U-space as a starting
point, the following article briefly U -space – or UAS traffic man-
agement (UTM) – is the digi-
tised air traffic management for
when it came to integration of the introduces the main rationale of
operation-centric risk assessment the U-space architecture, focusing UAS. It describes a specific volume
for UAS that Switzerland has already on the economic characteristics of airspace, in which a set of auto-
successfully applied for several that stand in contrast to manned mated and connected services
years. Within this framework, safety aviation. In a subsequent section, enable sustainable, efficient, safe
is addressed for a wide array of in-
dividual UAS missions that inform
the specific risk mitigation mea- (1) The author would like to thank all colleagues within the Innovation and Digitalisation Unit at
sures implemented. For example, FOCA involved in the subject, in particular Francine Zimmermann, Marcel Kaegi and Benoit
Curdy for the critical read and the valuable contributions to this article.
if a UAS flies over a rural area, the
(2) European Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/aeronautics/rpas_en (last accessed
applicable risk mitigation will be 08 May 2021).
considerably less rigorous compared (3) Webster 1995.
to a similar UAS flying over an as- (4) Bresnahan & Trajenberg, 1995.
(5) ECAC News #66 (last accessed 14 May 2021)
sembly of people or beyond visual (6) https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/mobilitystrategy_en (last accessed 17 June 2021).
line of sight (BVLOS). Even though (7) ICAO, 2019; Hately et al., 2019.
ECAC NEWS #73 7
DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES I U-space: how digitalisation will disrupt aviation
© Federal Office of Civil Aviation, FOCA
Figure 1: Swiss U-space from an operator’s point of view.
and secure UAS operation at scale. ANSPs to be the single service In contrast, the EU regulation
The EU regulation for U-space de- provider of ATM per one volume of for U-space aims to establish a cer-
fines the entities that are active in airspace, particularly for safety and tain level of competition, allowing
the architecture as well as their var- sovereignty reasons. Since ATM is a private companies to provide at
ious roles. Figure 1 provides an in- system-critical infrastructure, States least the following four services on
sight into the intended U-space have a mutual interest to have a a mandatory basis: network identi-
structure, illustrating the responsi- certain level of control when it fication, geo-awareness, UAS flight
bilities of the different entities comes to ATM development and authorisation, and traffic informa-
within the architecture. The regula- provision. In addition to this, the tion (10). After having tested a broad-
tion uses the concept of common current characteristic of the ATM cast and networked solution of
information services (CIS) to define infrastructure suggests that it is remote identification in September
a set of basic data that Member more efficient to have one ANSP 2019 (Figure 2), Switzerland is now
States must make available in all per volume of airspace than sev- in the implementation phase of
U-space airspaces (see white box at eral. Under these conditions, the the network remote identification
the top). As illustrated, the national entry barriers for competitors are service (Net-RID). Figure 2 offers an
air navigation service provider (ANSP) remarkably high. Comparable with insight into the demonstration of
and FOCA intend to ensure the other network industries such as the Net-RID. Six companies are cur-
major part of the CIS, whereas pri- railway or telecommunications, rently soft launching Net-RID on a
vate companies provide subsequent market entrants would need to voluntary basis, providing greater
U-space services in a competitive build up a costly infrastructure par- choice for UAS operators when it
environment. Bearing in mind the allel to the one managed by the comes to information sharing and
complexity of the underlying archi- incumbent (8). The human-centric accessing UAS operations via the
tecture, this article will have a deeper nature of ATM would make it even internet in real time (11). From a con-
look at the part illustrated at the more challenging to ensure seam- sumer perspective, this organisa-
bottom of Figure 1. less coordination of the services (9). tional structure comes with
It becomes clear that this sort
of organisational structure funda- (8) Finger, 2019.
mentally differs from the way air (9) Listen to the innovation and digitalisation podcast by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation on com-
traffic management (ATM) is pro- petition in ATM and UTM for more information: https://anchor.fm/foca-admin.
(10) See Chapter IV in the regulatory framework for the U-space (EU) 2021/664 for a detailed descrip-
vided in manned aviation, where tion of the specific U-space services.
States have regulated national (11) See https://susi.swiss/swiss-remote-identification/ for more information.
8 ECAC NEWS #73U-space: how digitalisation will disrupt aviation
I DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
“ It becomes clear that this sort of organisational structure
fundamentally differs from the way air traffic
management (ATM) is provided in manned aviation,
where States have regulated national ANSPs to be the
single service provider of ATM per one volume of airspace,
particularly for safety and sovereignty reasons. ”
additional benefits, including in- ing comes with a range of benefits, that also aims to harmonise the data
creased service quality and lower particularly by enabling the devel- exchange of all users and stake-
costs. Competition encourages opment of compatible and high- holders in the airspace are key for
companies to operate more effi- quality services at scale, while an efficient development of U-space.
ciently and make sustainable in- reducing transaction costs. From a Conversely, concepts and projects
vestments. Furthermore, it creates service provider’s perspective, such of unmanned aviation can also
the dynamics for innovative and a “new form of auditing” increases offer manned aviation important
creative processes. In addition, a efficiency, transparency and re- impulses in these terms. For exam-
competitive environment sets the sponsibilities. ple, using interoperable services in
necessary framework for a system a competitive structure may lead to
for sanctions. As the Swiss Court of optimised flight routes and coordi-
Auditors described in a recent re- U-space: flying nation, whereas waiting time on
port, a monopolistic structure makes towards sustainable the ground and empty loopholes
it hard for regulators to enforce are minimised. While recent reports
findings, as they have no alterna- development argue that improvements in ATM
tives that continue to provide the could reduce up to 6% of carbon
service of this critical infrastructure. emissions, translating fundamental
In terms of oversight, FOCA is C ommon rules and standards
that ensure interoperable ser- rationales of U-space into manned
aviation might be a point to start (12).
currently developing an automated vices and smooth communication
Net-RID monitoring environment structures are a key prerequisite for In the same vein, the EU Commis-
for service providers, empowering a functioning competitive environ- sion has emphasised that the UAS
them to self-audit the quality, com- ment in the U-space. Global ATM industry can strongly support Eu-
patibility and interoperability of initiatives such as the System Wide rope’s twin transition to green and
their services. Automated monitor- Information Management (SWIM) digital economy, elaborated in the
European Green Deal and the Euro-
pean Digital Strategy (13). In addition,
the industry can also contribute to
the post-COVID 19 recovery and
the future resilience of the EU
economy.
Furthermore, U-space has a
considerable impact on the devel-
opment of a sustainable and resilient
transport and logistic landscape as
a whole. For instance, innovative
© Federal Office of Civil Aviation, FOCA
UAS applications and associated
practices provide an important extra
value in terms of decarbonisation,
digitalisation and resilience, as cap-
tured in the EU Sustainable and
Smart Mobility Strategy (14). In order
to better conceptualise this argu-
Figure 2: The demonstration of the remote identification service by several service providers
ment, it is worth taking a step back
in September 2019 in Ittigen, Berne, proved to be successful. and looking at the United Nations’
17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) as an analytical framework
(12) EUROCONTROL, 2020; Destination 2050: https://www.destination2050.eu/ (last accessed on
8 May 2021). for sustainability assessments. In
(13) See: https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en respec- September 2015, the UN Member
tively https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age_en for more States adopted the 2030 Agenda
information (last accessed 17 June 2021).
(14) See https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/mobilitystrategy_en for more information (last for Sustainable Development, cre-
accessed 8 May 2021). ating a consolidated approach to
ECAC NEWS #73 9DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES I U-space: how digitalisation will disrupt aviation
© United Nations
Figure 3: The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) allow policymakers to assess the sustainability impact and effects
of a certain technology in a structured manner.
the greatest challenges the modern
world is facing (Figure 3). At the “ Six companies health and well-being (SDG 3), en-
able new concepts for clean energy
heart of the Agenda are the 17 SDGs are currently production (SDG 7), and reduce
and the 168 dedicated sub-targets, inequalities between States or re-
balancing a multidimensional model soft launching gions (SDG 10).
of sustainable development. In this
light, UAS not only generate eco- Net-RID on a
nomic value or have punctual eco-
Designing the
voluntary basis,
logical impacts, but also contribute U-space market,
to key solutions for tackling ensuring greater correcting market
broader political and societal prob-
lems, such as clean air in cities, ac- choice for UAS failures (15)
cess to digital technologies to
improve public services, or produc-
operators when
ing clean energy. A key strength of
the SDGs is the fact that they pro-
it comes to infor- Tsections,
o make best use of the advan-
tages outlined in the previous
it is key that U-space en-
vide regulators and policymakers mation sharing sures fair and efficient access to
with an international consolidated airspace for all types of UAS and all
framework that allows them to and accessing types of missions. Although this
navigate the relationships among
social, environmental and economic
UAS operations vision has not been an operational
problem yet, as the number of UAS
development objectives in a proac- via the internet applications has not warranted it,
tive manner. Furthermore, they en- the recent publication of a series of
able them to assess the impact of in real time. ” new regulatory frameworks indi-
their activities or decision-making cates the application of UAS at
processes, while protecting broader larger scale. When the number of
societal and political interests. SDG 9, the development of resilient UAS operations increases, the
First, U-space contributes to the and innovative infrastructure, par- airspace becomes increasingly
development of safe and resilient ticularly when it comes to upgrad- scarce. In turn, the inability to re-
cities, as captured in SDG 11. For ing and greater adoption of clean solve conflicts might fundamen-
example, the architecture facilitates and environmentally sound tech- tally affect the way this resource is
logistics, relieves road congestion, nologies. In addition, specific UAS used, raising concerns in terms of
multiplies mobility services, and operations contribute to better the fair allocation of a common
supports inclusivity of remote areas
through cargo deliveries. Second, (15) The author would like to thank Prof. Dr Sven Seuken, Co-director of the Zurich Center for Market
U-space has a positive impact on Design, for the valuable contributions to this chapter.
10 ECAC NEWS #73U-space: how digitalisation will disrupt aviation
I DRONES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
“ For instance, innovative UAS applications
and associated practices provide an important
extra value in terms of decarbonisation, digitalisation
and resilience, as captured in the EU Sustainable
and Smart Mobility Strategy. ”
good. Without good rules in place, ume of airspace to a certain type of way. To this end, FOCA has begun
such dynamics might lead to mar- operator might be in some situa- to work with the Zurich Center for
ket failures, known from other do- tions fairer and more efficient than Market Design that studies the de-
mains where resources are scarce in others. For example, due to the sign of resource allocation mecha-
but highly contested, as for exam- high utility of emergency flights - nisms that satisfy properties like
ple the inefficient allocation of per- the delivery of health critical equip- fairness and efficiency. Professor
sonal protective equipment during ment for example - this type of op- Sven Seuken from the University of
the first months of the COVID-19 eration has a higher priority than Zurich, world-leading expert on
pandemic. recreational ones. Second, cancelling market design and co-director of
or postponing certain UAS mis- the Zurich Center for Market De-
The fair and efficient allocation
sions might not be acceptable in sign, argues that “I see many inter-
of airspace is addressed in the reg-
some cases - thinking, for example, esting parallels between the design
ulation for U-space by the UAS
of applications where time is criti- of the U-space and other problems
flight authorisation service that de-
cal for the business models or vehi- like electricity markets, the alloca-
fines the key rationales for the con-
cles that have very limited battery tion of food to food banks, and the
flict resolution of UAS that want to
capacity. Third, a fair allocation distribution of medical goods such
fly in the same volume of airspace
mechanism may also point to en- as COVID-19 vaccines. To achieve
at the same time. In doing so, ser-
couraging long-run competition an efficient and fair allocation of
vice providers will receive a UAS
to prevent the resource being mo- the airspace, it is important to
flight authorisation request from make sure that the stakeholders do
UAS operators. In case of a poten- nopolised by one single UAS oper-
ator or company (16). Such contextual, not have an incentive to strategi-
tial conflict between two or more cally misreport their preferences.”
flight authorisation requests, the moral and economic factors are not
regulation suggests that service taken into account by the estab- As this case exemplarily shows,
lished first come, first served solu- the collaboration and exchange
providers need to process requests
tion. between a broad range of private
on a first come, first served basis.
and public actors may help to
Even though this policy has proved Similar to the way regulators
tackle new challenges that aviation
successful in manned aviation, found ways to assess safety in an
has never faced before, maximising
there are several arguments sug- operation-specific manner for UAS,
the value of the U-space for its
gesting that this might lead to chal- they may also need to address spe-
users and enabling the scalability
lenges in the U-space context. First, cific conditions and arrangements
of UAS technologies. ■
UAS missions are highly heteroge- to resolve conflicts between them.
neous and individual; therefore, an Thus, the design of rules that guar-
overly simple conflict resolution antee an efficient and fair alloca-
rule does not always lead to a fair tion of the airspace is an important
outcome. From a utility perspec- challenge that should be ap-
tive, the allocation of a certain vol- proached in a careful and proactive (16) Hately et al., 2019.
Larissa Haas is employed as Scientific Advisor for Innovative Technologies at the Federal Office of Civil Aviation
(FOCA). In her position, she contributes to the conceptual design of economic regulation and the analysis of
potential new markets for emerging technologies, such as UAS. In addition, Larissa coordinates the assessment
of emerging technologies with regard to sustainable development and the creation of respective strategies. She
holds a master’s degree in sociology and global governance and completed further education on managing the
impacts of technological disruption on society and politics.
ECAC NEWS #73 11REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
Making urban air mobility a reality
for Europe and its citizens
Patrick Ky
Executive Director of EASA
U rban air mobility (UAM) looks
set to be a reality in our cities
just three to five years from now.
For citizens, UAM will bring the
currently rather distant concept of
zens. And it will help us to achieve
this in a very short timeframe, to
align with the progress being made
“airspace” down to ground level,
This puts aviation on the brink of right next to where they are work- to develop such aircraft.
the biggest change for the broader ing, walking and living their daily
population since commercial avia- lives.
tion became commonplace. As with
Most important
This confronts EASA with a very
all developments on this scale, the specific challenge: how can we findings from the
evolution will have an impact on address citizens’ concerns, worries
the public perception of the entire – and even fears – and provide
survey
aviation industry. It presents an them with the needed assurances,
opportunity to demonstrate our abil-
ity to innovate. But it also under-
while also paving the way for
Europe to maintain its position as a
Fsurvey
irst of all, we discovered that the
citizens who took part in the
were generally open to
lines the importance of ensuring that leader in UAM?
safety must prevail, just as it does in UAM developments and interested
other areas of aviation operations. to try such services. 83% expressed
We are already seeing an in-
creased desire to use unmanned
“…the evolution an initial positive attitude and 71%
said they were ready to try at least
aircraft systems (UAS) – and similar will have an one of the UAM services consid-
ered in the survey (drone delivery
platforms with a pilot on board
such as eVTOLs (electric vertical
impact on the or air taxi).
This initial positive stance is
take-off and landing) – to enable public perception very helpful, as it allows a clearer
the transportation of goods and
people by air within individual of the entire focus on the specific concerns that
cities – or from locations outside need to be addressed.
the city into a city area. aviation The results were also surpris-
The use of UAS with new tech- industry. ” ingly homogeneous across the six
cities we focused on. For EASA, this
nologies and electric propulsion
and enhanced battery capacity was again good news and a good
offer a new dimension to the avia- To better assess the reality of starting point, given that we are
tion sector. Every day there are this challenge, the Agency con- looking to create a single regula-
more and more innovative opera- ducted an extensive study to mea- tory playing field at EU level.
tions in the area of infrastructure sure the societal acceptance of The study results showed that
surveys, medical services as well as UAM across the EU. This was the the citizens’ main concerns are re-
photographic and digital services. first EU-wide study of this type, lated to safety, security, noise and
The decision to introduce, or encompassing a literature review, the environment.
permit, urban air mobility opera- market analysis, a quantitative Safety of course for our agency
tions in a particular location does online survey of 4000 citizens from is always the primary goal. What we
not lie with the European Union six different urban areas, 40 quali- discovered from the results is that
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). But tative interviews and noise tests while safety is extremely important
it is our role to set the rules that en- with 20 participants. for citizens, they also take it for
able these operations, ensuring For EASA as a regulator this in- granted that UAM will be safe, as
that they are safe, sustainable and formation is crucial. It will allow us they expect high standards in avia-
efficient and that citizens’ concerns to set up the rules and regulations tion. This is at once a positive en-
about such operations are taken in a way that is aligned with the ex- dorsement for the safety of the
into account. pectations and perceptions of citi- industry and a challenge, as it sets
12 ECAC NEWS #73Making urban air mobility a reality for Europe and its citizens
I REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
a high bar for safety achievements
in this new environment. But this is
a challenge we embrace. “…the citizens who took part
As we expected, noise is defi- in the survey were generally open
nitely a concern – but some mitiga-
tion of this is possible if the type of to UAM developments and
noise fits in with typical city
sounds. The tests we were able to interested to try such services. ”
do in this area were limited – both
in terms of the number of partici-
pants and the type of tests. As abuse of drones for terrorist attacks European companies. This brings
these aircraft are at best available or for deliberately causing harm to new challenges for all parties in-
in a limited number of prototypes, individuals is a real concern for volved. UAM aircraft are quite
no real experience was possible. many. different aircraft from the ones we
On the environment, we had Many of the concerns made are accustomed to certifying. Their
anticipated that citizens would see visible by the survey fall within the manufacturers are a mixture of
UAM as a way to reduce congestion competences of EASA and the established aircraft manufacturers
on the ground and have cleaner air Agency will have to identify and and start-ups. For the start-ups,
in the city. And indeed, this expec- propose mitigation options as it working with a regulator such as us
tation was confirmed. Additionally, proceeds to put further regulations to gain certification is a completely
the global environmental/climate in place for UAM. new experience. It is also a new
impact and sustainability of the experience for EASA to work with
whole UAM industry (battery, vehi- companies that have the typical
cle, energy production) was high-
What are the next mentality and approach to working
of a start-up. We are learning from
lighted as an important factor steps? each other.
which needs to be adequately
addressed. On the regulatory side, EASA
However, there were some
findings that we had not antici-
M anufacturers tell us that they
will be ready to have these
types of aircraft in operation in just
has already produced a series of
“world first” regulations and build-
pated. These included concerns ing blocks to support UAM:
three to five years’ time. Delivery
about the impact of UAM on • On airworthiness with our special
drones are expected to come first,
wildlife, specifically the potential conditions for eVTOLs and light
followed by electric aircraft that
negative effect on birds and insects. UAS as well as the design verifica-
can carry people.
tion guidelines.
The participants also raised a It is EASA’s responsibility to cre- • On operations and pilot licens-
quite specific fear of visual pollu- ate the full set of rules for how ing, in early 2019 we launched
tion, perhaps explained by the fact these new in-city services can op- preparatory activities that will
that European cities have old cul- erate and also to certify the aircraft lead to rules for the pilots/remote
tural heritage to preserve. – manned and unmanned – that pilots of these vehicles, their
A further surprise came in the will be flying. operators and for the infrastruc-
level of concern about security and On the certification side, sev- ture required, such as vertiport
cyber security. It is clear that the eral lead players in this area are operators.
© dipn
ECAC NEWS #73 13REGULATORY FRAMEWORK I Making urban air mobility a reality for Europe and its citizens
• On airspace integration, EASA A comprehensive set of Euro- results of EU and national pilot pro-
has prepared the world’s first pean rules will be amended or cre- jects, which can demonstrate pub-
U-space/UTM (unmanned traffic ated to address the airworthiness licly the feasibility and the reality of
management) regulatory pack- of these new types of aircraft, their UAM and so trigger “real” feedback
age. This defines what is needed operations, the licensing of pilots from citizens.
for the safe integration of drone (whether on board or remote), the With respect to the results of
operations into an urban environ- aerodromes in which they will our societal study, we will prepare
ment. It was adopted by the Euro- operate and the rules of the air by a specific action plan to cover all
pean Commission on 22 April 2021 which they will fly. the key findings and will integrate
and will become applicable in
these actions as appropriate in our
early 2023.
regulatory and certification activi-
On the research and develop-
ment side, EASA is already engaged
in a large number of projects. It has
“ Citizens have ties.
Concerns on privacy, such as
signed the Manifesto of the UAM made clear that usage for tracking or stalking indi-
viduals, or on integration in the
initiatives for several European they expect all local environment and local trans-
cities coordinated through the EU
port networks, will need to be
Smart Cities Marketplace. parties to work addressed by other authorities, at
As we move on to our next
tasks, the results of the study will
together to make EU, national or local levels.
When it comes to the findings
be used as a reference, for example UAM happen and conclusions for which EASA is
when developing the Regulatory
Impact Assessment that will ac- safely. ” not responsible, we will ensure the
company the future EU regulatory relevant information is made avail-
proposals aimed at enabling the able to those entities and institu-
operations of UAS in the “certified” tions that are best placed to take
category and the UAM itself. In parallel, research activities them into consideration.
are being run to establish adequate The next years will require
With these proposals, the
noise levels associated to the new intense work by many different or-
Agency will address all operations
aircraft propulsion technologies ganisations to enable this evolu-
with UAS and VTOL, typically com-
mercial, that involve a high level of that could be acceptable to the tion and to ensure that it happens
risk due to the scope of the opera- public at the level of familiar city safely. Citizens have made clear that
tion itself, involving passengers or sounds. they expect all parties to work to-
dangerous goods, or due to the Another way in which we will gether to make UAM happen safely.
complex environment in which they take this further is by offering sup- We all need to work together to rise
take place. port to, and closely monitoring, the to this challenge. ■
More on EASA’s actions on UAM and the complete report of the EASA study on societal acceptance can be found:
https://www.easa.europa.eu/domains/urban-air-mobility-uam
Patrick Ky is Executive Director of EASA. Since 2013, his mission has been to further consolidate the role and
responsibilities of the Agency and to make the European aviation regulatory system a reliable framework. Before
EASA, he was in charge of the SESAR programme. He also held various positions in the French Civil Aviation
Authority, EUROCONTROL and the European Commission. He has over 20 years of experience in civil aviation. A
graduate of the Civil Aviation Engineering School in France, he holds degrees in economics from the University of
Toulouse and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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