Towards a Digital European Sky

The digital transformation of European skies is the next frontier to guarantee Europe’s global leadership in aviation. Major European aviation stakeholders jointly call for a follow-on of the successful EU Research programme SESAR Joint Undertaking to create the Single European Sky and support industries and authorities in enabling a more connected, safe and seamless transport for all.

Digitalisation is widely recognised today as a driving force behind innovative solutions, business growth and improved wellbeing for citizens. This is certainly the case in aviation, which is embracing technological advances to respond to increasing demand for travel, as well as new airspace users entering into global airspace. New technology is improving the efficiency of airspace, ensuring better environmental performance and enhancing safety. We in the aviation industry are proud of our pioneering spirit and believe that the digital transformation of Europe’s skies is our next frontier.

Maximising the potential of digitalisation is key to the future success of aviation throughout Europe. The aviation industry is being transformed by digitalisation with increasing automation, and exchange of data among all parts of the aviation value chain. But this is only the start and digitalisation will play an increasingly important role in the future safety and efficiency of the aviation industry. To enable this ambitious transformation, the key European aviation stakeholders must work to ensure that the digital transformation of aviation does not become fragmented and pursue new areas of expertise to meet the objectives of the EU’s Single European Sky and Aviation Strategy.

We are committed to digital transformation and believe its implementation is a matter of urgency, however, realising this ambition cannot be achieved by any one organisation alone. We, the stakeholders including manufacturers, solutions providers, airspace users, airports and air navigation service providers, will create a “Digital European Sky”, transforming our business processes, services and systems to enable more connected aviation and with that seamless travel and transport for all.

To help enable this we will co-invest in the future of ATM research and development, through the successor of SESAR 2020, to collectively deliver a single, safe and secure Digital European Sky, that will allow Europe to maintain global leadership in this digital future.