DIRECTION DES SERVICES DE LA NAVIGATION AERIENNE

Their core work

DSNA is France's national air navigation service provider, responsible for managing all air traffic across French airspace — one of the busiest in Europe. Within H2020, they contribute deep operational expertise to the SESAR programme, Europe's flagship initiative for modernizing air traffic management. Their work spans trajectory management, airspace design, airport safety nets, demand-capacity balancing, and increasingly the safe integration of drones and remotely piloted aircraft into controlled airspace. As an operational ANSP, they bring real-world validation environments that few other partners can offer.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the first half of their H2020 participation (2016–2019), DSNA focused heavily on traditional ATM infrastructure: system engineering, validation methodologies, en-route airspace management, master plan execution, and Single European Sky implementation. From 2018 onward, their portfolio shifted markedly toward drone integration and unmanned aircraft — U-space concepts, RPAS insertion in controlled airspace, and UTM demonstrations became prominent. Simultaneously, their later Wave 2 SESAR projects deepened into advanced trajectory management and performance-based navigation, signaling a move from foundational ATM work toward next-generation airspace challenges.

DSNA is pivoting from conventional air traffic modernization toward the coexistence of manned and unmanned aviation, making them a key partner for any future Urban Air Mobility or drone corridor project.

How they like to work

DSNA operates overwhelmingly as a participant (41 of 45 projects), joining large SESAR consortia where they provide operational validation and domain expertise rather than project management. With 201 unique partners across 28 countries, they function as a high-connectivity hub in European ATM research — almost any organization working on air traffic in Europe has likely collaborated with them. Their four coordinator roles (ToBeFREE, SAFE, XSTREAM, and one other) tend to be in areas of specific French operational strength, such as free-route airspace and cross-border arrival management.

DSNA maintains one of the broadest collaboration networks in European ATM research, with 201 unique consortium partners spanning 28 countries. Their network is anchored in the SESAR ecosystem, connecting them to every major European ANSP, aerospace manufacturer, and ATM research center.

What sets them apart

DSNA manages one of Europe's most complex airspaces (French airspace handles major intercontinental traffic flows plus dense domestic operations), giving them an operational credibility that pure research organizations cannot match. Their dual capability in both traditional ATM and emerging drone/U-space operations makes them particularly valuable for projects that need to demonstrate how new entrants coexist with conventional aviation. For consortium builders, partnering with DSNA means gaining access to real French airspace for validation trials — a resource that is exceptionally difficult to secure otherwise.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PJ13-W2 ERICA
  Their largest single H2020 grant (EUR 1.29M) focused on enabling RPAS insertion in controlled airspace — marks their strategic bet on drone integration.
• PJ06 ToBeFREE
  Coordinator role with EUR 1M funding for trajectory-based free routing, demonstrating DSNA's leadership in en-route airspace modernization.
• PJ25 XSTREAM
  Coordinator of cross-border arrival management trials (EUR 630K), showcasing their ability to lead multi-country operational demonstrations.