UNIFLY

Their core work

Unifly is a Belgian SME that builds unmanned aerial system traffic management (UTM) and U-space software platforms, enabling the safe integration of drones into civilian airspace. They provide the digital infrastructure — flight planning, airspace management, surveillance data fusion, and separation services — that allows multiple drone operators to fly simultaneously in shared, often urban, airspace. Their work spans the full U-space service stack, from early concept-of-operations design through large-scale live demonstrations across Europe.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Unifly's early H2020 work (2016–2019) concentrated on foundational UTM technology: RPAS integration, GNSS positioning, cooperative and non-cooperative surveillance, data fusion, and basic U-space building blocks like geo-fencing and deconfliction. From 2019 onward, their focus clearly shifted toward higher-level U-space services — separation management, airspace design, detect-and-avoid — and into the emerging urban air mobility domain, including passenger drones, eVTOL vehicles, and large-scale demonstration campaigns. This mirrors the broader European trajectory from research-phase UTM concepts to operational U-space deployments.

Unifly is moving from back-end UTM infrastructure toward operational U-space services for urban air mobility, positioning them at the center of Europe's emerging passenger drone and air taxi ecosystem.

How they like to work

Unifly participates exclusively as a consortium partner — never as coordinator — which suggests they position themselves as a specialist technology provider rather than a project leader. With 98 unique partners across 19 countries in just 11 projects, they operate in large, diverse consortia typical of SESAR and ATM research. This broad network makes them easy to work with and well-connected across the European drone and aviation ecosystem, though they rely on others to drive project governance.

Unifly has built an extensive network of 98 unique consortium partners spanning 19 countries, overwhelmingly within the European aviation and drone sector. Their network is heavily shaped by SESAR Joint Undertaking projects, connecting them to air navigation service providers, research centres, and drone operators across the EU.

What sets them apart

Unifly is one of Europe's few dedicated UTM/U-space platform companies — not a research institute studying drones, but a software company building the actual traffic management systems that drones need to fly safely. Their consistent presence across nearly every major EU-funded U-space initiative from 2016 to 2023 means they carry institutional knowledge of how European drone airspace rules evolved from concept to implementation. For any consortium needing a proven UTM technology partner with real operational demonstration experience, Unifly is a natural choice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CORUS-XUAM
  Extended the foundational European U-space concept of operations into urban air mobility, covering eVTOL, eCTOL, and general aviation — the most forward-looking project in their portfolio.
• PODIUM
  Their largest single EC contribution (EUR 265,881), focused on very large-scale drone demonstrations proving operational UTM management.
• CLASS
  Tackled the technically demanding problem of real-time unmanned traffic management through cooperative and non-cooperative surveillance with data fusion — a core enabling technology.