Terms

Air Traffic Control (ATC) is a service provided by trained and certified aviation personnel to monitor, direct, and manage aircraft movements in the air and on the ground, ensuring safe, orderly, and efficient flight operations within controlled airspace.

The system of airborne & ground-based functions, including air traffic services, airspace, and flow management, required to ensure safe, secure, & efficient aircraft movement in all operations.

Authority Requirements on Aircrew (ARA) refer to the legislation, standards, rules, and technical guidance that the competent authority establishes and provides so that relevant personnel can perform their duties in compliance with EU aircrew regulations.

Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) refers to an aircraft that can execute complete flight missions—including navigation and decision-making—entirely on its own, without continuous or real-time control from a human operator on the ground. While most AAVs are technically Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the key distinction is that AAVs operate autonomously rather than simply being remotely piloted.

Beyond visual line of sight operation’ (‘BVLOS’) means a type of UAS operation which is not conducted in VLOS (a type of UAS operation in which, the remote pilot is able to maintain continuous unaided visual contact with the unmanned aircraft, allowing the remote pilot to control the flight path of the unmanned aircraft in relation to other aircraft, people and obstacles for the purpose of avoiding collision)

Concept of Operations in Urban Air Mobility (ConOps) is a high-level framework that systematically describes how Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations will be conducted. This includes defining the operational environments, the necessary procedures, and the governing legislative or regulatory frameworks required to ensure these activities are implemented safely and efficiently.

Counter-UAS refers to the integrated systems and technologies used to detect, locate, track, classify, and identify unmanned aircraft in order to assess and manage potential security risks.

A colloquialism for an unmanned aircraft or vehicle designed to operate autonomously or via remote control. Technical terms for aircraft include Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), or Remote Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS).

Type of aircraft that uses electrical propulsion to takeoff, hover, and land vertically.

The European Aviation Safety Agency is the centrepiece of the European Union's strategy for aviation safety. Its mission is to promote the highest common standards of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation. The Agency develops common safety and environmental rules at the European level.