AUSTRO CONTROL OSTERREICHISCHE GESELLSCHAFT FUR ZIVILLUFTFAHRT MBH

Their core work

Austro Control is Austria's national air navigation service provider (ANSP), responsible for managing all civil air traffic in Austrian airspace. In H2020, they serve as a real-world validation environment for next-generation air traffic management (ATM) systems developed under the SESAR programme — testing new concepts for arrivals/departures, trajectory management, remote towers, and drone integration in live operational settings. Their contribution is operational expertise: they bring the perspective of working air traffic controllers, real airspace constraints, and regulatory knowledge that lab-based research cannot replicate.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2016–2018, Austro Control focused heavily on foundational SESAR ATM modernization: demand-capacity balancing (DCB), SWIM data infrastructure, trajectory management, and master planning for the Single European Sky. From 2019 onward, their portfolio shifted noticeably toward RPAS/drone integration, U-Space airspace concepts, urban air mobility, machine learning applications, and digital tower technologies. This evolution mirrors the broader European ATM agenda moving from infrastructure upgrades toward autonomous and unmanned operations.

Austro Control is positioning itself as a testbed ANSP for unmanned and autonomous aviation operations, making them a strong partner for anyone working on drone integration, urban air mobility, or AI-assisted air traffic control.

How they like to work

Austro Control operates exclusively as a participant — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is typical for ANSPs whose role is to provide operational validation rather than lead research. With 184 unique partners across 29 countries, they sit at the center of the European ATM research network, connected to virtually every major SESAR player. Their consistent presence across SESAR Wave 1 and Wave 2 projects shows they are a reliable, long-term consortium member rather than a one-off contributor.

With 184 unique consortium partners across 29 countries, Austro Control is deeply embedded in the pan-European ATM research ecosystem. Their network spans nearly all EU/EEA nations, reflecting the inherently cross-border nature of air traffic management.

What sets them apart

As Austria's sole ANSP, Austro Control offers something most research organizations cannot: access to live, sovereign airspace for testing ATM concepts under real operational conditions. Their 42-project SESAR track record means they understand both the technical and regulatory sides of deploying new ATM systems. For consortium builders, they provide the critical "operational validation" partner that turns research prototypes into deployable solutions.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PJ02 EARTH
  Largest single funding (EUR 422,727) — focused on increasing runway and airport throughput using advanced separation concepts, GBAS, and LiDAR.
• PJ05-W2 DTT
  Second-largest funding (EUR 210,116) — addresses digital and remote tower technologies for controlling multiple airports from a single center.
• MALORCA
  Unusual cross-domain project applying machine learning to automatic speech recognition for air traffic controllers — signals early AI adoption in ATC operations.