Spanish air navigation services provider, ENAIRE coordinated 9,588 drone operations in 2024, a 6 percent reduction compared to 2023. ENAIRE says the number of operations managed decreased due to the establishment of procedures and agreements with public and private uncrewed aerial system (UAS) users, aimed at simplifying administrative work and improving the efficiency of the process.
In addition,general UAS zones were established for the safety of airport operations following Royal Decree 517/2024. These zones correspond to airspace volumes that, depending on the intended flight distance and altitude of the drone, require coordinating those flights with ENAIRE (at airports where this entity provides aerodrome traffic control services) or with the airport manager.
In both cases, ENAIRE, through its Airspace Operations Coordination Department, receives all these requests and processes them, in some cases with the airport manager, and in others, by directly issuing responses to users. ENAIRE is present at every airport in the Aena network for Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) services, but it is not present at some airports as a provider of aerodrome traffic control services, meaning in some provinces, the coordination volume is lower.
For more information
