Zaragoza, Spain, recently hosted a groundbreaking flight test campaign, marking a significant milestone in European aviation. This campaign marked the first-ever simultaneous integration of three unmanned traffic management providers in Europe as part of the U-ELCOME unmanned drone project.

The U-ELCOME project, led by EUROCONTROL, is dedicated to ushering unmanned airspace management technologies and processes into Europe, aligning with the EU's U-Space initiative. To achieve this goal, the project conducted a series of tests and demonstrations across 15 locations in Spain, Italy, and France, focusing on various operational environments.

A key aspect of U-ELCOME's mission is to enhance communication between Common Information Services (CISP) and U-Space Service Providers (USSPs) and their respective operators, as well as fostering effective communication between USSPs.

The tests conducted in Zaragoza yielded successful results, validating the communication processes with the involved stakeholders. USSPs actively participated in the operations through the ENAIRE U-Hub platform, which serves as an extended component of the CISP. Furthermore, the security of communications was successfully verified.

Several organizations, including ENAIRE, the Galician Technological Institute (ITG), Aslogic, Umiles, and Primecor, played pivotal roles in achieving this milestone in the field of air navigation, as part of the U-ELCOME project.

Isabel Buatas, the head of Hera Drone Hub and one of the project's partners, commented on the demonstration, highlighting its relevance in addressing emergency scenarios. She explained, "In this demo, an emergency use case was presented. During a routine drone flight operation, an emergency arises, and the authority itself, National Police, City Council, Fire Department, can activate a secure volume within the ENAIRE platform. A CISP can enter that scenario, thus allowing them to communicate from the platform itself to the operators about the situation so that they can vacate that airspace promptly."

These tests were attended by various authorities, including representatives from the Regional Government of Aragon, Zaragoza City Council, Zaragoza Air Base, National Police, and the Fire Brigade. Additionally, organizations such as the Aragon Logistics Cluster (ALIA), Mobility City, Bluenest, and ELA Aviation, which provided a gyroplane for testing, were also present. The comprehensive support from these entities has established Zaragoza as an ideal location for implementing the U-space scenario, offering a complete ecosystem for advanced mobility.

Isabel Buatas further emphasized the importance of initiatives like the U-ELCOME project, aiming to support and promote the future service activity that drones will provide. The project's ultimate objective is to enable drones to share airspace with other legitimate users, with the goal of achieving routine operations by 2026, consequently ushering in new business models within the aviation industry.