From the 12th to 16th of May 2025, the ASTAIR project carried out its final AI validation activities using Real-Time Simulation technique, at ENAC in Toulouse, followed by a concluding Final Workshop on the 27th of May. These efforts represent a significant step forward in assessing the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in airport operations, marking the transition towards the aimed maturity level of the project, (e.g. the Maturity Gate, TRL1).

These activities aimed to validate AI-supported Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs) designed to enhance efficiency, situational awareness, and decision-making in complex airport environments, with a focus on human-AI collaboration and system usability.

Validation week. Simulating Human-AI collaboration in airport environments

During the ASTAIR Validation Week, a series of real-time and fast-time simulations were conducted with air traffic controllers (ATCOs) and airport operations professionals, testing AI-enabled tools across both nominal and non-nominal scenarios.

  • In standard traffic simulations at Charles de Gaulle Airport, AI assisted ATCOs with conflict detection, pushback coordination, and taxi management. The Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) was used to measure real-time situational awareness during paused simulations.
  • In non-nominal scenarios, such as emergency returns or unavailable parking stands, the AI collaborated with ATCOs to support decision-making in dynamically evolving situations.
  • Participants evaluated ASTAIR with a focus on two levels of Automation – Level 2 and Level 3: one (L2) encouraging active interaction with AI and another (L3) highlighting a supervisory role, fostering reflection on trust, automation, and task delegation in future airport systems.

Post-simulation questionnaires and structured debriefings collected user feedback on AI usability, cognitive workload, situational awareness, trust on AI and the operational relevance of AI support tools in realistic ground control settings.

A dedicated session with airport ground operations personnel provided additional insights from a non-ATCO perspective. Discussions included the evolving role of profiles such as the tug fleet manager, enabled by AI planning modules for tow and taxi operations.

Final workshop. Strategic reflection before concept definition

Held on 27 May, the ASTAIR Final Workshop gathered project partners and aviation stakeholders to review validation outcomes and discuss further on the concept and use cases details. The session served as a collaborative platform to evaluate the effectiveness and operational feasibility of AI integration in airside operations and discuss potential next steps towards digitalisation in airport environments.

This final milestone ensures that insights from validation activities will directly inform the validation report and concept outline deliverables and Maturity Gate, and reinforces ASTAIR’s contribution to the evolution of AI in air traffic management and future airport operations.