Information sharing is key to developing smart and seamless multimodal solutions for Europe’s citizens. That is the rationale behind TRANSIT, a recently launched SESAR 2020 exploratory project, led by Rubén Alcolea from Nommon Solutions and Technologies. In this interview, he outlines the core objectives and expected outcomes of the project, and how the COVID crisis is shaping the focus of its work.

The SESAR JU has published the results of some 36 completed exploratory projects. Taking place between 2016–2020, the selected projects have brought together over 100 academic and industry partners, such as universities, SMEs, research centres, airlines, manufacturers, air navigation service providers from across the European Union and EU Associated Countries.

As part of the SESAR JU vodcast series ‘COVID-19: A game changer for aviation?', this vodcast, ‘Deploying in a time of COVID’, will explore how the pandemic has changed what we are doing in ATM and more importantly, what we need to deploy in the new normal. The Vodcast is scheduled at 3PM on 13 October.

The SESAR JU is proud to be part of the 2020 European Aeronautics Days – AeroDays2020 - on 25 and 26 November! Taking place in a hybrid format, the conference will explore the future of aviation and the implementation of EU policy priorities. The SESAR JU will host a dedicated session looking at digital solutions for automated ATM, as well as a virtual exhibit showcasing the latest achievements of the programme.

The deadlines for paper contributions for this year’s SESAR Innovation Days have been extended until 9 October. Contributions are welcome from all SESAR research and innovation projects (exploratory and industrial), as well as research projects outside the programme that are related to ATM.

Dynamic airspace configuration is the packaging of air traffic control routes, optimised trajectories, airspace reservations and sectors so that they can be dynamically managed and can be easily adapted to changing traffic demand. Check out this video of a DAC tool, developed by partners in the SESAR Project PJ.08 (W1), which used AI and machine learning to enable more scalable and resilient ATM.

Higher levels of automation supporting air traffic controllers controller workload and stress is key for a future-proofed ATM system. This publication summarises a report by the SESAR 2020 Scientific Committee Automation Taskforce, detailing a long-term vision and research roadmap for automation in ATM, as a basis for the definition and coordination of future research activities.

The SESAR JU hosted two webinars on 15 and 29 September looking at the virtualisation of air traffic management. The webinars explored two key developments, namely remote towers and virtual centres, presenting the latest research findings and preparations underway for their implementation.