Spain’s national air navigation manager, ENAIRE, presented plans for integrating drone operations into the national airspace at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2025, an international event on urban innovation held at the Fira de Barcelona.
ENAIRE representatives joined a roundtable focused on technologies that enable the integration of drones in urban environments, with visitors from 135 countries. ENAIRE has been designated as the central hub for all U-space information between operators and air traffic control in Spain.
Rodrigo Benedit, a technician in ENAIRE’s Drone Business Development Department, spoke in the session titled U-space and Enabling Technologies for Integrating Drones in Urban Environments, dedicated to analysing how cities can prepare to integrate drone operations safely and sustainably.
Benedit presented ENAIRE’s vision for the development of U-space services and its role in the safe and efficient management of drone traffic in urban areas. He also highlighted regulatory and technological advances that are enabling greater integration of unmanned systems into conventional airspace, as well as the results of recent U-space demonstrations carried out in Spain under the U-ELCOME project, spanning eight autonomous communities with more than 600 drone flights.
“Cities will be a key environment for the future of aerial mobility. At ENAIRE, our work is focused on ensuring that these operations can be carried out safely, interoperably and with the highest level of coordination among all actors in the urban ecosystem,” Benedit stated.
The panel also included Enric Pastor, Associate Professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia; David Rovira, CEO of Rigitech; and David Fraissinet, Director General of the Automòbil Club d’Andorra. The session was moderated by Daniel Castillo, CEO of the Barcelona Drone Centre.
The discussion included the technological, regulatory and social challenges associated with the deployment of U-space, the European digital drone traffic management system, as well as the role that U-space service providers (USSPs) and Common Information Service Providers (CISPs) such as ENAIRE will play in the future of urban air mobility.
ENAIRE is developing software platforms that enable automated, safe and efficient management of airspace under U-space rules. These platforms are currently undergoing certification by the Spanish Aviation Safety Agency (AESA).
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Image: Rodrigo Benedit presents ENAIRE’s plans at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2025. (ENAIRE)
