Next generation ATS platform for airport operations

The Horizon Europe program is offering a grant under the Digital European Sky Industrial Research 02 call, specifically identified as HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02. This initiative aims to advance the next generation of airport platforms and improve air traffic management systems. It is focused on supporting research and innovation actions, innovation actions, and coordination and support actions within various work areas of the SESAR initiative.

Eligible applicants include research organizations, public entities, and potentially non-profit organizations involved in the aviation and air traffic management sectors. Collaboration is key, with a consortium requirement mandating participation from at least three airports alongside either an established ATS airport system manufacturer or evidence of capability to build necessary prototypes. Geographic eligibility is primarily focused on entities from EU member states and associated countries, with the potential for participation from other nations under Horizon provisions.

Funding is provided in the form of lump sum grants, which are designed to cover fixed costs without requiring co-funding from applicants. The call is structured with varying budgets across multiple work areas, with funding amounts ranging from approximately EUR 500,000 to EUR 31,000,000 depending on the specific work area.

The application process consists of a single-stage submission, with a deadline set for September 16, 2025. The evaluation of proposals will weigh excellence, impact, and implementation, where applicants will be invited to clarify specific aspects of their proposals through hearings.

Expected project outcomes focus on enhancing airport operations through innovative technologies, cyber-resilience, environmental sustainability, and advanced human-machine teaming, among other aspects. The overarching goal is to drive forward the development of efficient, safe, and advanced air traffic control systems in line with the European ATM Master Plan, supporting trajectory-based operations.

The funding structure includes significant contributions across designated work areas, targeting advancements in integrated management systems, data sharing between platforms, and optimizing runway throughput, among other innovations. A collaboration agreement will be necessary for beneficiaries, and projects can have a maximum duration of up to 36 months.

The EU's Horizon Europe program, under the Digital European Sky Industrial Research 02 call (HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02), is offering funding for projects aimed at developing the next generation of airport platforms. The call specifically targets research and innovation actions (RIA), innovation actions (IA), and coordination and support actions (CSA) to advance the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) initiative. The overarching goal is to create airport platforms that leverage advanced technologies, new aircraft capabilities, and trustworthy AI to achieve level 4 automation as outlined in the European ATM Master Plan.

The expected outcomes of the projects funded under this call include:

IR-4-01: Next generation airport platform fully leveraging aircraft capabilities, supporting data sharing, and interconnected with various stakeholders (ground handlers, ANSPs, NM, CNS/MET, etc.) while accommodating IAM, interfacing with U-space, and addressing military needs.

IR-4-02: Artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for next-generation airport platforms.

IR-4-03: Cyber-resilience and cyber-security capabilities for next-generation airport platforms, including consideration of post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms.

IR-4-04: Airport solutions for reducing environmental impact operations, including sustainable taxi concepts and environmental performance dashboards.

IR-4-05: Future human-machine teaming.

IR-4-06: Optimization of runway throughput.

IR-1-01: Integrated air/ground trajectory management based on ATS-B2, including extensions for lower airspace and airport surface.

The scope of the research includes developing core ATS platforms for airport operations, ensuring flights/missions operate in a way that reduces climate impact, optimizing flight trajectories, maintaining airport safety in all weather conditions, enabling dynamic capacity scaling, ensuring cybersecurity, guaranteeing continuous flight optimization, and enabling TBO phase 3 in a highly automated airport environment.

Specific minimum requirements for consortia include:

At least three airports must be part of the consortium.

The consortium must either include an established ATS airport system manufacturer or demonstrate the operational and technical capability to build the required ATS airport system prototypes.

The proposed target architecture must align with the service delivery model outlined in the Master Plan.

Detailed Research and Innovation (R&I) needs to enable TBO Phase 3 include:

ADS-C standard instrument departure (SID) conformance monitoring on the airport surface: This involves automatically checking that the correct SID is loaded on the Flight Management System (FMS) using ADS-C downlink data.

Use of ATS B2 CPDLC v2/v4 on the airport surface: This includes developing ATC ground systems to support the use of CPDLC for taxi clearances and revised departure routes.

Enhanced optimized and safe runway delivery for arrivals and departures: This involves using more accurate flight-specific predictions of final speed profiles derived from evolved extended flight plans (EPP) or ADS-C data, and may include automatic real-time wake turbulence separation on departure based on LIDAR and SWIM-based meteorological services.

Advanced calibration of airport capacity: This aims to develop solutions that leverage reduced traffic uncertainty to reduce the declared capacity buffer without reducing real capacity or traffic movements.

Integrated management of single-engine and engine-off taxiing operations: This involves managing single-engine taxiing, autonomous and non-autonomous engine-off taxiing operations, synchronizing engine start-up with target take-off time, and considering scalability aspects.

Management of non-autonomous engine-off taxiing operations by tug fleet manager: This involves developing the concept of a tug fleet manager to oversee the implementation of tug allocation plans during non-autonomous engine-off taxiing operations.

Data exchange between TWR and En-Route and TMA platforms: This aims to evaluate and determine which information and how it should be exchanged between TWR and APP systems to enable seamless coordination.

The call is structured into several topics with varying budgets and objectives:

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA1-1: Budget of EUR 20,000,000; Contributions ranging from EUR 4,000,000 to EUR 10,000,000; Indicative number of grants: 2.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA2-1: Budget of EUR 14,000,000; Contributions ranging from EUR 2,000,000 to EUR 7,000,000; Indicative number of grants: 2.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA3-1: Budget of EUR 93,000,000; Contributions ranging from EUR 9,000,000 to EUR 31,000,000; Indicative number of grants: 3.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA3-2: Budget of EUR 20,000,000; Contributions ranging from EUR 5,000,000 to EUR 10,000,000; Indicative number of grants: 2.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA4-1: Budget of EUR 24,000,000; Contributions ranging from EUR 5,000,000 to EUR 12,000,000; Indicative number of grants: 2.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA4-2: Budget of EUR 6,000,000; Contributions ranging from EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 3,000,000; Indicative number of grants: 2.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA5-1, HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA5-2, HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA5-3: Budget of EUR 30,000,000; Contributions ranging from EUR 3,000,000 to EUR 6,000,000; Indicative number of grants: 1 for each.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA6-1, HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA6-2, HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA6-3: Budget of EUR 20,000,000; Contributions ranging from EUR 2,000,000 to EUR 5,000,000; Indicative number of grants: 1 for each.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA7-1: Budget of EUR 2,000,000; Contributions ranging from EUR 1,000,000 to EUR 2,000,000; Indicative number of grants: 1.

HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA7-2: Budget of EUR 1,000,000; Contributions ranging from EUR 500,000 to EUR 1,000,000; Indicative number of grants: 1.

The call opens on April 1, 2025, and the deadline for submissions is September 16, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. The evaluation criteria include excellence, impact, and implementation, with weightings of 40%, 40%, and 20%, respectively. All applicants will be invited to participate in a hearing to clarify specific elements of their proposals.

The funding rate is 70% of the eligible costs, which will take the form of a lump sum. Beneficiaries will be subject to additional dissemination and exploitation obligations, including sharing results with other projects and making results available for reuse under fair conditions. A collaboration agreement is required, and the maximum project duration is 36 months.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to foster research and innovation in air traffic management to develop next-generation airport platforms that are more efficient, sustainable, safe, and cyber-resilient. It seeks to integrate advanced technologies like AI and automation to optimize airport operations, reduce environmental impact, and enhance collaboration between air and ground systems. The call encourages consortia to include airports and ATS system manufacturers to ensure the development of practical and scalable solutions aligned with the European ATM Master Plan.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but based on the call characteristics (Research and Innovation Actions, Innovation Actions, Coordination and Support Actions) and the requirement for consortia to include at least three airports and potentially an ATS airport system manufacturer, it can be inferred that eligible applicants include airports, airport system manufacturers, research institutions, universities, and potentially other types of organizations involved in air traffic management and aviation research. The call is geared towards consortia, so a mix of these types is expected.

Funding Type: The funding type includes Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), Innovation Actions (IA), and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA), all provided as lump sum grants.

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required. The consortium must include at least three airports. It must also either include an established ATS airport system manufacturer or demonstrate the operational and technical capability to build the required ATS airport system prototypes.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, given that it is a Horizon Europe program and the mention of non-EU/non-Associated Countries having specific provisions, it can be inferred that the primary geographic focus is on EU member states and associated countries, with potential participation from other countries under specific conditions outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector: The target sector is primarily air traffic management (ATM), with a focus on airport operations, aviation, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and environmental sustainability within the aviation industry. Specific areas include: Next-generation airport platforms, Air Traffic Services (ATS), Artificial Intelligence (AI) in aviation, Cyber-resilience and cybersecurity for airport platforms, Environmental impact reduction in airport operations, Human-machine teaming in aviation, Runway throughput optimization, Integrated air/ground trajectory management, SWIM based meteorological services, Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS).

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the call is part of the Horizon Europe program, suggesting eligibility for EU member states and associated countries. The text also mentions "non-EU/non-Associated Countries" with specific funding provisions.

Project Stage: The project stage varies depending on the type of action. Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) suggest projects in the research, development, and validation stages. Innovation Actions (IA) imply projects in the demonstration and potentially commercialization or scale-up stages. Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) focus on networking, coordination, and dissemination activities. The call aims to enable TBO Phase 3, suggesting a focus on projects that are moving towards demonstration and implementation.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary significantly depending on the specific work area (WA) within the call. The contributions range from 500,000 EUR to 31,000,000 EUR.
HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA1-1: 4,000,000 to 10,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA2-1: 2,000,000 to 7,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA3-1: 9,000,000 to 31,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA3-2: 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA4-1: 5,000,000 to 12,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA4-2: 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA5-1, WA5-2, WA5-3: 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA6-1, WA6-2, WA6-3: 2,000,000 to 5,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA7-1: 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 EUR
HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02-WA7-2: 500,000 to 1,000,000 EUR

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of lump sum grants to support their research, innovation, coordination, and support actions.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding is not explicitly mentioned as a requirement. However, the funding rate is 70%, which implies that beneficiaries need to cover the remaining 30% of the eligible costs through other sources.

Summary:
This is a Horizon Europe call under the Digital European Sky Industrial Research 02 (HORIZON-SESAR-2025-DES-IR-02) program, focusing on advancing the next generation of airport platforms and air traffic management. It seeks to improve airport operations through research and innovation in areas like automation, AI, cybersecurity, environmental sustainability, and air-ground communication. The call is structured around several work areas (WA), each with a specific budget and scope, ranging from research and innovation actions to coordination and support activities. Consortia applying for this call must include at least three airports and either an established ATS airport system manufacturer or demonstrate the capability to build the required prototypes. The funding is provided as lump sum grants, with a 70% funding rate, implying a co-funding requirement from the beneficiaries. The call aims to enable trajectory-based operations (TBO) Phase 3 in a highly automated airport environment, aligning with the European ATM Master Plan. The application process is a single-stage submission, with a deadline of September 16, 2025. This call is designed to foster collaboration between airports, system manufacturers, research institutions, and other stakeholders to create more efficient, safe, and sustainable airport operations in the future.