Strengthening aviation’s resilience to rare high-impact events

ATM-RARE, has officially launched to help strengthen the resilience of Europe's future air traffic management system in the face of rare but potentially serious disruptions.

Coordinated by Italian research company Deep Blue, the 30-month project began on 1 June 2026. It is one of the 49 recently launched projects supported by the SESAR Joint Undertaking under the Horizon Europe programme, and has received nearly EUR 1.9 million in EU funding.

Air travel in Europe is already extremely safe, thanks to decades of investment in risk management and operational improvement. But some events are much harder to anticipate and manage. These include major power cuts, cyberattacks, severe weather and failures affecting critical digital infrastructure.

Although such events are rare, they can have a major impact on aviation and quickly spread across a highly connected system. ATM-RARE will look at how the air traffic management system can be better prepared not only to prevent disruption where possible, but also to cope, adapt and recover safely when unexpected events do occur.

The project will develop new methods to help identify early warning signs of disruption and support faster, better-informed decisions during crises. Its aim is to help aviation stakeholders maintain safe operations under difficult circumstances and restore normal service as efficiently as possible.

"Rare events are, by definition, difficult to predict, yet they can have far-reaching consequences for the aviation system," said Claudia Iasillo, Project Coordinator at Deep Blue. "ATM-RARE will help shape automated air traffic management systems that are not only more capable, but also more trustworthy, resilient and ready for the challenges of tomorrow."

To test its approach, the project will explore four real-world scenarios: using aircraft to collect weather data in real time, managing runway operations with AI support during extreme conditions, maintaining airport operations during a major power outage, and improving the prediction and handling of severe clear air turbulence.

ATM-RARE will also work closely with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) so that its findings can help inform future European standards and guidance for the safe and responsible use of automation in aviation.

The project brings together partners from six European countries with expertise in aviation, safety, cybersecurity, weather, artificial intelligence and human factors.

More information: https://www.sesarju.eu/projects/ATM-RARE