The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a plan to modernize the nation’s airspace by 2040 with investments in the country’s aviation infrastructure.
The CAA’s newly published ‘Airspace Modernisation Strategy, Part 3: Deployment Plan’ during the 2024 Farnborough Airshow outlines the essential activities and milestones the industry and regulator must achieve over the next seven years.
“The world of aviation is undergoing a technological revolution and it’s crucial our airspace evolves alongside this,” UK Aviation Minister Mike Kane said. “We have an analogue airspace in a digital age designed nearer a time Yuri Gagarin reached for the stars. The moment for change is now.”
This detailed plan includes integrating “new airspace users” such as space launches, drones, and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft in the existing ecosystem. It also addresses the need for services to support all airspace users.
Among the solutions considered, the CAA is studying the development and deployment of technologies that would allow all aircraft to detect and avoid each other.
