CFPs: Next Generation ATS Platform for Airport Operations

Deadline: 16 September 2025

The European Commission is inviting proposals for the Next Generation ATS Platform for Airport Operations topic.

Scope

Research aims at developing the next generation of airport platforms, considering state-of-the-art ground technologies while leveraging innovative solutions and new aircraft capabilities aiming to achieve level 4 of automation as outlined in the Master Plan and by considering a trustworthy AI approach. The targeted airport platforms shall enable the following capabilities:
- Ensuring that all flights/missions (crewed or uncrewed) operate in the airport and in adjacent airspace in a way that maximises, to the fullest extent, aircraft capabilities to reduce the overall climate impact of aviation (CO2 and non-CO2).
- Ensuring that each flight trajectory is optimised considering the individual performance characteristics of each aircraft, user preferences, real-time traffic, local circumstances, and meteorological conditions at the airport. This optimisation shall be systematic, continuous (from planning to execution), and extremely precise throughput is improved in high demand scenarios.
- Intelligent surface management and airport safety nets maintain airport operations safe in all weather conditions while runway throughput is improved in high demand scenarios.
- Service providers can dynamically and collaboratively scale capacity up or down in line with demand by all airspace users. These capacity adjustments are implemented in real time and ensure optimal and efficient dual (both civil and military) use of resources at any moment at the airport (data, infrastructure, and human-machine teaming).
- Endpoints, data connection and ecosystem are cybersecure thanks to enhancement to key properties of information security such as, but not limited to, strong identification, authentication and integrity. Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms86F 87 should be considered where appropriate, ensuring cyber-resilience risks are adequately managed. Collaboration among airports and system manufacturers will enable an enhanced cybersecurity in the next generation of ATS platforms. Research shall consider the on-going work by ICAO on the international aviation trust framework (IATF), which aims at developing standards and harmonised procedures for a digitally seamless sky and dependable information exchange between all parties.
- The contribution during airport operations to the continuous optimisation of every flight/mission from gate to gate is systematically guaranteed thanks to high connectivity between air-ground and ground-ground components.
- The human operator is performing only the tasks that are too complex for automation to manage, teaming up with automation.
- Air-ground voice communication is no longer the primary way of communicating and most routine tasks should be managed through machine-to-machine applications.
- To enable TBO phase 3 in a highly automated airport environment in accordance with the TBO and automation roadmaps in the ATM MP.

Funding Information

Budget (EUR) – Year 2025: 24 000 000
Contributions: 5000000 to 12000000
The maximum project duration is 36 months.

Expected Outcomes

To significantly advance the following development actions:
- IR-4-01 Next generation airport platform addresses the next generation airport platform fully leveraging aircraft capabilities. This includes supporting the data-sharing service delivery model, interconnected with other airports and their 3rd parties (e.g. ground handlers), ANSPs, NM, CNS/MET as a service, etc., facilitating the accommodation of IAM, the interface with U-space as well as specific needs from the military.
- IR-4-02 Artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities enabling the next generation of airport platforms.
- IR-4-03 Cyber-resilience and cyber-security capabilities enabling the next generation of airport platforms.
- IR-4-04 Airport solutions for reducing environmental impact operations. This includes sustainable taxi related concepts, environmental performance dashboards, etc.
- IR-4-05 Future human – machine teaming.
- IR-4-06 Optimisation of runway throughput.
- IR-1-01 Integrated air/ground trajectory management based on ATS-B2 including the extension for lower airspace and airport surface.
This includes advancing the capabilities of the following systems:
- Ground systems: core ATS platform for airport operations.

Specific minimum requirements for this topic

Consortia for this topic shall include:
- At least three airports.
- Either include an established ATS airport system manufacturer or provide evidence that the consortium has the operational and technical capability to build the ATS airport system prototypes required for the research at the required maturity level.
The proposed target architecture shall be aligned with the service delivery model outlined in the Master Plan.

Eligibility Criteria

Entities eligible to participate:
- Entities eligible to participate Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from nonassociated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call/topic.
- A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality .
Entities eligible for funding :
- To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding. To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
  - the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions:
    - Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
  - the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States:
    - Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
  - countries associated to Horizon Europe;
    - Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom.