Countdown to Harmonized Skies 2025: Why Zurich is the Place to Be for Digital Aviation

By: Koen De Vos, Secretary General GUTMA

Lake Zurich, Alpine air and chocolate: the city hardly needs more selling points. Yet this year, Zurich adds another: it becomes the stage where Europe’s digital aviation future takes off. GUTMA’s Harmonized Skies Conference will touch down here, and it’s an event you won’t want to miss. Why? Four reasons stand out…

1. Zurich: Where the Needle Moves

The Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) has been quietly working for years to turn regulatory text into reality. Now, those efforts have begun to crystallize. Zurich is set to host one of the first U-space airspaces in Europe, not yet fully fledged, but with the essential building blocks coming online.

FOCA is carefully orchestrating the gradual deployment of the four mandatory U-space services: network ID, geo-awareness, flight authorization and traffic information. This is more than an experiment. It’s a practical step forward in Europe’s digital airspace journey.

Dallas last year was all about strategic deconfliction. Zurich takes the conversation further, showing how U-space services are being pieced together and tested. If you want to see how Europe is building its digital sky, one brick at a time, Zurich is the place.

2. No Filters: Regulators Meet Industry

One of the perennial frustrations in aviation is the distance between regulators and innovators. The Harmonized Skies Conference changes that dynamic. FOCA is not only hosting, but also inviting heavyweight colleagues from across Europe and beyond.

This makes Zurich a rare stage where regulators and industry share the same table. Expect candid comparisons between the European U-space framework and the FAA’s BVLOS rulemaking. Expect debate, not monologues. And expect ideas to be stress-tested in real time, not just nodded through politely.

3. No Punches Pulled: Frank Panel Discussions

The panel programme forms the backbone of the conference. Seven discussions, each tackling a core piece of the puzzle, bring together leading voices from across the drone ecosystem:

• Panel 1 – Zurich Panel: Why is Zurich a pivotal first step toward a seamless EU drone services market? Hear FOCA and industry unpack the real digital challenges of creating a U-space airspace and what lessons the rest of Europe can learn.
• Panel 2 – Policy Panel: A digital drone ecosystem can make Europe’s economy more resilient and sustainable, but only if open markets allow effective competition. This panel looks at uneven implementation across Member States, and how authorities and industry can unlock true EU-wide integration.
• Panel 3 – Market Panel: Digital aviation is the next disruption. Just as smartphones reshaped telecoms, U-space will reshape aviation. The discussion focuses on emerging business models, global competition and the economic conditions needed to scale.
• Panel 4 – Connectivity Panel: Swisscom, REGA, FOCA, Ofcom, and international peers take on the big connectivity challenge. Drones, eVTOLs, helicopters: what will it take to connect them all safely? Expect insights from Switzerland, but also lessons from the USA and UAE.
• Panel 5 – Automation Panel: One pilot, one drone is a dead end. To scale BVLOS, we need one pilot, many drones. This session dives into automation and conflict resolution services, exploring how digital infrastructure can keep the skies safe even as traffic density rises.
• Panel 6 – Standards Panel: Standards are the backbone of open and interoperable markets. What works? What’s missing? And how can open-source tools like InterUSS be integrated into a system that regulators still need to approve? Expect a lively debate on how to balance the big-picture vision with the technical details that make or break interoperability.
• Panel 7 – Next Steps Panel: Beyond drones, toward fully digital skies. BVLOS, advanced connectivity, adaptive flight rules: what building blocks are still missing to scale up safely? This panel will sketch out the next phase of digital aviation in Europe and beyond.

Each discussion promises to go beyond slogans. Expect specifics: what worked, what failed and what can be learned.

4. A Front-Row Seat: Innovation Park Zurich

No conference would be complete without a look at the real world. That’s why the second afternoon takes us to Innovation Park Zurich, where industry leaders will showcase ongoing projects. Here you’ll see not just concepts, but the practical challenges of accessing airspace, and the innovative solutions companies are testing.

It’s a reminder that digital aviation is not abstract policy; it’s a concrete market, with jobs, investments and competitive stakes.

Zurich is not just a picturesque backdrop for a conference. It is a laboratory for Europe’s digital aviation future. FOCA’s leadership shows how a mid-sized country can punch above its weight in shaping global best practices.

For regulators, the conference is a checkpoint: how to translate U-space regulation into functioning reality. For industry, it’s a market test: how to scale business models across borders. For all of us, it’s a chance to see how Europe can remain competitive in the global drone race.

So why Zurich? Because that’s where we are writing the future of digital aviation, this time not on paper, but in the sky. Welcome to Harmonized Skies 2025, powered by GUTMA!

Secure your participation now before tickets are sold out! Register at this link.