Europe launches smart air mobility trials 

European Commission-backed Sesar project has input from Indra, Thales and EHang
By Ben Spencer February 4, 2021 Read time: 2 mins
Sesar’s air mobility trials will take place in the Netherlands, Spain and the UK (© Resul Muslu | Dreamstime.com)

A European Commission (EC) project to see if drones can help ease road congestion has been unveiled.

The Single European Sky ATM Research (Sesar) U-space demonstration project includes input from EHang is to conduct air mobility trials over the next two years. 

Sesar – a programme that coordinates European Union R&D activities in air traffic management (ATM) – is managed by a partnership called SESAR Joint Undertaking whose members include Indra and Thales. 

In 2017, the EC mandated the Sesar Joint Undertaking to coordinate the research and development activities related to U-Space and drone integration. 

The new project, called Air Mobility Urban - Large Experimental Demonstration (Amu-Led), will take place in the city of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Cranfield (UK) and the Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Sesar says planned exercises within Amu-Led include more than 100 flight hours combing different applications such as air taxi operations and emergency services support. 

The project will aim to demonstrate how to de-congest roads, improve transportation of people and goods, reduce travel times, cut pollution and reduce traffic accidents.

Data obtained from the different tests is expected to support the regulatory framework for urban air mobility. 

Aside from EHang, other partners include Airbus, Cranfield University, Boeing Research & technology-Europe, Anra Technologies and Tecnalia.

Mass Transit & MaaS Urban Traffic Control

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