Rome Fiumicino Airport hosts SESAR3 / EUROCONTROL ‘EUREKA’ project, which paves the way for safe and efficient vertiport integration

Our SESAR3 and EUROCONTROL updates take joint billing this month, as the organisations launched EUREKA, a Digital European Sky Fast Track Innovation and Uptake (FTIU) project. EUREKA aims to accommodate vertiport operations in the European airspace to enable Urban Air Mobility, and unlock the potential for safe, secure and sustainable UAM transportation systems. The launch meeting was hosted by ACI EUROPE member Rome Fiumicino Airport in mid-June.

Led by EUROCONTROL, the consortium is made up of 35 members from all over Europe who will remain collaborators until mid-2026. The project has a total investment sum of about €12 million, which includes €6.9 million funding from the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking.

The project will work in close cooperation with EASA and other international and national authorities and organisations, also contributing to the consolidation of standardisation and regulatory requirements related to Vertiports and UAM operations. The outcome of this FTIU initiative will be shared with the larger U-space/UAM community giving particular attention to the other ongoing UAM deployment initiatives, and to the rulemaking initiatives on the subject managed by the European Commission, ICAO, EUROCAE and EASA etc.

You can stay up to date with EUREKA’s work, and actively engage with it, through its official channels: On Twitter, follow @EurekaVertiport; on LinkedIn, connect with the project at https://www.linkedin.com/company/theeurekaproject.