FASTNet: developing data-driven solutions for air traffic management

As Europe faces increasing air traffic demands and climate efficiency challenges, the SESAR Joint Undertaking's FASTNet project has recently performed a series of validation exercises demonstrating how smarter data use and enhanced airport-network coordination can make operations more predictable, efficient and resilient - from months in advance through to the day of operations.

FASTNet - short for Future dAta Services and applicaTions for airports and Network - brings together European airports, airspace users, industry and EUROCONTROL's Network Manager to improve the way we manage air traffic. The project focuses on enhancing collaboration and data sharing between airports, airlines and the wider European air traffic management network (EATMN).

At the heart of FASTNet are two complementary SESAR solutions addressing different planning horizons:

• Enhanced AOPs-NOP tactical planning (Solution 346), targeting the tactical, day-of-operations phase.
• AOP-NOP data enhancement to the strategic (from months in advance until D-7) and pre-tactical (D-7; D-1) planning phases (Solution 347), focusing on strategic and pre-tactical phases (from months in advance until D-1),

Together, they demonstrate how data-driven insights and targeted coordination can replace broad, system-wide measures with smarter, more precise interventions.

Replacing blanket restrictions with targeted flight management

Solution 346 focuses on improving coordination during the tactical phase - on the day of operations.

Traditionally, when an airport experiences a capacity shortfall, broad Air Traffic Flow & Capacity Management (ATFCM) regulations may delay all inbound traffic. FASTNet proposes a more refined alternative.

This "cherry-picking" approach enables airports to coordinate directly to identify and adjust only the specific flights that can resolve bottlenecks - instead of applying blanket restrictions. The objective is to minimise overall delay, reduce costs and limit environmental impact while maintaining network stability.

The concept was tested through shadow and live validation exercises:

• Shadow mode trials between Copenhagen Airport and Brussels Airport, simulating capacity constraints at Brussels and assessing whether direct airport coordination could resolve issues more efficiently than traditional regulations.
• Shadow mode and live trials between Athens International Airport and Rhodes International Airport, using real and generated flight data to manage traffic during busy periods. Selected flights were assigned optimised arrival times to ease pressure on Rhodes.

Initial results indicate that more selective flight management can reduce delays compared to conventional ATFCM processes.

In parallel, Athens airport also served as a testbed for AI-powered taxi-time predictions, using machine learning to more accurately estimate when aircraft will be ready for departure or at gate upon arrival - further strengthening both local and network flow planning.

Predicting demand earlier and more accurately

While Solution 346 improves day-of-operations coordination, Solution 347 enhances planning in the strategic and pre-tactical phases.

The solution validates a data-driven approach to predict demand on airport resources - such as security lanes, baggage systems or border control - both locally and across the network. Using historic operational data from FASTNet partners, machine-learning models have been developed to forecast:

• Passengers per flight
• Passenger presentation profiles at check-in, security and border control
• Number of hold baggage items per flight
• Number and impact of flow management regulations affecting an airport
• Early flight intentions from airlines to improve network traffic predictions

By reinforcing early information sharing between airports, airlines and the Network Manager - including extending Pre-DeParture Information messages up to six days before operations - stakeholders gain better visibility and can plan tactical operations more effectively.

Live validation exercises took place at Paris Orly Airport, with the participation of airport operations and IT teams, APOC staff, industry partner Indra, and airlines including Air France and Transavia. The connection to the network level was ensured via EUROCONTROL's Network Manager Validation Platform.

These trials followed passive and active shadow mode exercises, culminating in live operational use of FASTNet predictions.

Next steps: sharing the results

FASTNet will present the outcomes of its validation exercises at an open event hosted by Athens airport on 25 February 2026.

By demonstrating the combined value of real-time coordination and predictive analytics, FASTNet contributes to the evolution of air traffic management under Europe's Digital European Sky initiative. The lessons learned will feed directly into SESAR's innovation pipeline, paving the way for more resilient, efficient and sustainable airport and network operations.