ENAIRE launches its first Business Ideas Competition in Air Traffic Management aimed at students, university graduates and entrepreneurs

The registration period for the first edition of the "Business Ideas Competition in Air Traffic Management", an initiative of CRIDA, the research, development and innovation subsidiary of ENAIRE, the national air navigation service provider, is open through 31 December 2022.

"The goal is to promote and develop ideas in their initial phases, so that business opportunities can be leveraged in any activity sector related to the provision of air traffic and air transport services", said ENAIRE's CEO, Ángel Luis Arias.

Through its subsidiary CRIDA, it will help turn entrepreneurial initiatives into real projects

The competition is open to undergraduate/graduate students, doctoral students and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Selection Committee

The competition has a Selection Committee, which is tasked with assessing the viability of each project. The three best projects, in the opinion of the Selection Committee, will receive prizes of 5,000, 3,000 and 1,000 euros for first, second and third place, respectively.

In addition, the Selection Committee will choose two more projects that, together with the three winners, will enter an "incubation period".

During this time, the proponents of the projects selected will have individual and group support sessions for three months, from February to April 2023, to refine the definition of their business ideas.

Of the five projects that go through the "incubation period", ENAIRE will give an additional financial endowment of 10,000 euros to the one that, after completing the process, proposes the best business plan.

ENAIRE Open Innovation

The Business Ideas Competition in Air Traffic Management is part of the ENAIRE Open Innovation project, which in 2023 will include a challenge competition and an acceleration programme for newly-created companies.

"With these initiatives, ENAIRE will promote turning entrepreneurial ideas into real projects through the Open Innovation concept, that is, by looking for talent also outside the organisation, such as in universities and among entrepreneurs in the sector", says CRIDA's director, José Miguel de Pablo. 

More information at https://ideas.enaireopeninnovation.com

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the air navigation service provider in Spain.

As a company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, it provides en route control services for all flights and overflights from five control centres in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Gran Canaria and Palma, as well as approach services to every airport in the country.

In addition, 45 control towers receive ENAIRE's communication, navigation and surveillance services, and 21 airports, including the country's busiest, rely on its aerodrome control services.

ENAIRE is Europe's fourth largest air traffic manager. Since 1 January 2022, it has chaired the A6 Alliance, a coalition of air navigation providers responsible for over 80% of European air traffic, and which is seeking to modernise the air traffic management system. It is also a member of other international alliances promoting the Single European sky, such as SESAR Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, iTEC, CANSO and ICAO.

ENAIRE, as the agency appointed by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda to implement the U-space system in Spain, will be the provider of the Common Information Services (CIS), which are essential for administering U-space services to drones and Urban Air Mobility, in interaction with local air traffic control services, so that all types of aircraft can fly safely in the same airspace.