GOF 2.0 initiative completes drone test flights in Austria
A European consortium conducted a series of drone test flights in Austria in September, as part of the GOF 2.0 Integrated Urban Airspace VLD initiative
The tests support the validation and integration within Austrian airspace of air traffic control solutions developed by the initiative, to support interoperability of drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with traditional aircraft.
The test flights were at St Georgen am Ybbsfeld Airport, near Amstetten, Lower Austria, and included the ‘automated parcel delivery at low-altitude and its safe interaction with air taxi flights and conventional air traffic were extensively tested as an example of a realistic use case’.
Integrating drones with air traffic ‘of utmost importance’
The consortium, organized under the European Union’s (EU) SESAR 3 joint undertaking, aims to develop solutions for the safe and sustainable integration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and air taxies in urban airspace, with a focus on interoperable, secure communication between airborne and ground-based systems.
The group consists of 15 partners from both the scientific community and the drone and aviation industry, including: Estonian Air Navigation Services (EANS), Dimetor, Airbus Urban Mobility GmbH, Aviamaps, CAFA Tech, DroneRadar, EHang, Fintraffic ANS, Frequentis, PCSS Poznańskie Centrum Superkomputerowo-Sieciowe, Polish Air Navigation Services Agency, Robots.Expert, Threod Systems, Unmanned Life and Vaisala.
“It is of utmost importance that we can integrate drone traffic control systems directly into our air traffic management systems and ensure a safe and smooth operation,” explained Günter Graf, Vice President New Business Development and Innovation at Frequentis, the Austrian GOF 2.0 partner and host of this validation. “Many thanks to our partners for the good cooperation and their attendance with us in Austria. The team is working excellently, and the results are promising.”
In October 2021, ADAC Luftrettung and the German Aerospace Center DLR jointly researched how helicopters, drones and autonomous vehicles can be networked to improve aerial emergency medical care.