NEXTANT APPLICATIONS & INNOVATIVE SOLUTION SRL

Their core work

NAIS is a Rome-based SME that provides specialized air traffic management (ATM) engineering and consulting services within the European SESAR programme. They contribute technical expertise on runway operations, airport throughput optimization, remote tower systems, and increasingly on U-space and urban air mobility integration. Their work spans simulation, concept validation, and system architecture design for next-generation airspace management across Europe.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2016–2019, NAIS focused heavily on traditional airport and airspace operations: runway throughput, wake vortex separation, surface management, and GNSS-based approach procedures. From 2019 onward, their work shifted decisively toward digitalization and emerging mobility — remote/digital towers, ATM virtualisation, and U-space integration for drones and urban air mobility. This trajectory mirrors the broader SESAR programme evolution from optimizing conventional aviation toward integrating unmanned and urban air traffic.

NAIS is moving from conventional airport optimization toward the drone/UAM integration frontier, positioning them for the growing European U-space regulatory and technical ecosystem.

How they like to work

NAIS operates almost exclusively as a third-party contributor (12 of 13 projects), meaning they are brought in by SESAR Joint Undertaking members to provide specialized technical input rather than leading or formally participating in consortia. Despite this behind-the-scenes role, they have an exceptionally wide network — 118 unique partners across 27 countries — indicating they are a trusted specialist called upon by many different lead organizations. Working with NAIS means accessing deep SESAR domain knowledge without the overhead of a large organization.

With 118 unique consortium partners spanning 27 countries, NAIS has one of the broadest collaboration networks relative to its size, built through systematic participation across the SESAR programme's major project families (PJ01 through PJ34).

What sets them apart

NAIS occupies a rare niche: a small Italian SME with deep involvement across nearly the entire SESAR project portfolio, from runway operations to U-space. Their third-party role means they bring independent expertise without competing with the large aviation industry players who lead these projects. For anyone building a SESAR-related consortium, NAIS offers broad ATM domain coverage and an established reputation within the Joint Undertaking ecosystem.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CORUS-XUAM
  Positions NAIS at the frontier of European U-space regulation and urban air mobility concept development, covering drones, eVTOL, and UAM integration.
• GRADE
  Their only direct participant role (not third party), focused on GNSS-based rotorcraft airport accessibility demonstration — shows independent project capability.
• PJ32-W3 VC
  Virtual Centre project addresses ATM digitalisation and airspace de-fragmentation, a key strategic direction for European airspace modernization.