EU approves Future Mobility Campus Ireland to develop aerial Unmanned Traffic Management systems
The EU has approved a European consortium coordinated by Future Mobility Campus Ireland (FMCI) in Shannon to develop aerial Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) systems.
FMCI and its consortium partners will develop Europe’s unmanned flight ecosystem in a three-year project that includes Shannon Group, the Irish Aviation Authority, Collins Aerospace (Ireland and France), Dublin-based Avtrain, Manna and Deepblue in Italy.
The consortium has received three-year funding from the Single European Sky ATM Research Joint Undertaking (SESAR 3 JU) to develop unmanned aviation business opportunities in Ireland.
Future Mobility Campus Ireland CEO Russell Vickers said: “This award will secure access to airspace for large numbers of drones and eVTOL aircraft.”
Collins Aerospace value stream leader Boe Svatek added: “It will help us work with our partners in Ireland to support safe and connected unmanned flight.”
Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine continued: “As a founding member of SESAR 3 JU, Collins Aerospace is supporting its quest to modernise European air traffic management.
“Shannon Airport has been at the forefront of innovation over many decades, and it is essential that we help to develop new technology and processes that will allow unpiloted aviation to integrate with legacy airspace.”
Dublin-based Avtrain, Europe’s leading drone pilot and operator training and certification organisation, is delighted to be part of the new industry collaboration according to its CEO Julie Garland.
She said: “We are entering a new era of innovation where the success of the industry will depend on the integration of unmanned aircraft into our airspace, rather than its segregation.
“We look forward to working with Collins Aerospace, FMCI, Shannon Group and our partners in the project to move the industry to the next level.”
Funded by Enterprise Ireland and industry partners, the FMCI campus was selected as home to the unmanned flight ecosystem development project on account of its state-of-the-art digital framework facilities, including a recently developed Advanced Air Mobility Hub.
FMCI has already worked with Skyports, Avtrain, Shannon Group and Federal Express trialling freight delivery services using autonomous, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations.
Large-scale urban air mobility demonstrations took place in Bordeaux in March 2021 and Toulouse in 2022 as part of a new consortium of companies from France, Italy, Spain and the UK, co-ordinated under SESAR 3 JU with Tactical INstrumental Deconfliction And In-flight Resolution (TindAIR).
The month before, EHang joined two European Union healthcare projects to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles for unmanned aviation across the European Union.
Safe and Flexible Integration of Advanced U‑Space Services for Medical Air Mobility (SAFIR-Med) selected 17 partners supported by eight cross-industry advisory board members, including the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and The Red Cross.