Air traffic does not stop at national borders, neither should innovation

Avinor joined the SESAR Joint Undertaking as a member in June this year. In this interview, Abraham Foss, President and CEO of Avinor, and Jan Gunnar Pedersen, Director of Air Navigation Services, explain why cross-border collaboration matters in aviation innovation and how Avinor's operational environment can help support the development of a more digital, connected and sustainable European sky.

Avinor operates in one of the most demanding aviation environments in Europe. Its airport network connects remote communities across Norway, often in weather conditions that would shut down airports elsewhere, while its air navigation services manage one of Europe's largest airspaces, covering mainland and offshore areas and handling a diverse mix of regional traffic, helicopters, hub operations, overflights and growing drone activity.

For Abraham Foss, this is exactly why innovation must be developed in partnership. "Innovation in aviation is not something you can do alone," he says. "Not in development and not in operations." He adds that Avinor brings to SESAR JU "an airspace and airport network that is uniquely suited for operational testing such that we can validate new concepts and technologies together in real operational environments".

This practical, operations-led approach has already shaped Avinor's work in areas such as electric aviation, sustainable ground operations, digital towers and free route airspace. As Jan Gunnar Pedersen explains, these innovations have grown directly out of operational need. "Operating that complexity has shaped a culture where we continuously look for new ways of solving the challenges," he says. "Solutions like digital towers, free route airspace were not developed because innovation is an end in itself, but because maintaining a safe and efficient aviation system requires us to think differently."

Avinor sees its membership of SESAR JU as an opportunity both to contribute and to learn. "Of course we want to contribute with our learnings and to learn from others in return," says Foss.

With aviation inherently international, Avinor also sees European collaboration as essential. "Air traffic doesn't stop at national borders," Foss says, "and that is exactly why SESAR Joint Undertaking is important." He describes SESAR JU as "a community where stakeholders come together to develop solutions that will create a more digital, more connected and a more sustainable European sky".

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