The ÉALÚ-AER project has reached a major milestone with the successful completion of its fourth and final integration phase at the Future Mobility Campus Ireland (FMCI) vertiport, close to Shannon International Airport. This last phase marked the culmination of the technical activities within the project, expanding the operational scope and further validating the ÉALÚ-AER solution.
Phase 4 introduced additional BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) corridors extending into a neighbouring county, transiting from Class-C airspace to Class-G airspace with demonstration flights performed along three distinct routes. All operations originated from the FMCI vertiport and included: a loop flight returning to the vertiport, a remote flight to the suburbs of Limerick, and a third route to Coonagh Airfield in County Limerick. These varied trajectories allowed the team to test the flexibility, reliability, and safety of the U-space-enabled system across multiple operational scenarios and environments.
The demonstrations were made possible thanks to the continued collaboration of the ÉALÚ-AER consortium partners— FMCI, Collins Aerospace, AirNav Ireland, Manna, Avtrain, and the Shannon Airport Group. Each played a key role in delivering the technological and regulatory framework required for safe and coordinated BVLOS operations, under the close supervision of the Irish Aviation Authority.
In parallel, Deep Blue carried out Human Performance validation activities to verify the usability and trustworthiness of the U-space solution for future drone operators, air traffic management personnel, and other involved stakeholders.
With Phase 4, the ÉALÚ-AER project concludes its technical implementation phase demonstrating U-space architecture operations (U1 and U2 services) and the integration with ATM, improving the situational awareness of different IAM stakeholders, enabling safe BVLOS UAS operations and establishing Ireland’s first Digital Sky Demonstrator.
