Seamless Skies Awards – opening date and judges announced

CANSO and publishing partners Global Airspace Radar and Unmanned Airspace/Urban Air Mobility News have announced timelines for the new Seamless Skies Awards entries. There will be two months to submit your entry – 5 January – 6 March. The winners will be announced at Airspace World 2026, 26-28 May 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal, the global air traffic management industry’s premier event.

The judging panel for the awards has also been named and comprises:

• Mildred Troegeler, Executive Liaison to ICAO, Boeing
•  Tim Arel, Chair, Board of Directors, CANSO
• Simon Hocquard, President and CEO, CANSO
• Claudia Bacco, Editor-in-Chief, Global Airspace Radar
• Nancy Graham, President, Graham Aerospace International
• Patrick Ky, CEO, International Centre for Aviation Innovation (ICAI)
• Dave Sheppard, Vice President and Chief Technology and Information Officer, NAV CANADA
• Youzec Kurp, Vice President and General Manager, Airspace Mobility Solutions, Thales
• Philip Butterworth-Hayes, Editorial Director, Unmanned Publications

“We have brought together a team of experts with decades of industry expertise to identify the break-through programmes and technologies which will raise the bar on global ATM performance – CANSO’s priority mission,” said CANSO President and CEO, Simon Hocquard. “The judges will be looking to identify the technologies, concepts and programmes which will pioneer a more connected, seamless, digital future airspace management industry.”

The Seamless Skies Awards recognise exceptional achievements in the global air traffic management (ATM) and UAS traffic management (UTM) sectors during 2025, covering all levels of airspace management, from low level to 60,000ft and above.

Entries will be accepted in the following categories:

Collaborative operations for sustainable skies

This award recognises successful partnerships between air navigation service providers (ANSPs), industry, aircraft operators, research organisations and others to deliver new levels of airspace management performance – improving safety, reducing delays and environmental impact while delivering a more cost-effective operational outcome.

Innovation to enable safer, more efficient airspace operations

Driving advancements in technology, automation, and operations to shape the skies of tomorrow. This award celebrates projects that explore the latest innovations demonstrating how cutting-edge technologies such as digitisation, virtualisation, and artificial intelligence can enhance performance, efficiency, safety, sustainability, and capacity in airspace operations.

Safety, security & resilience

This award acknowledges projects which support resilience to disruptions and unforeseen events and maximise operational performance ensuring that both safety and service continuity in extreme circumstances is possible.

Building the lower airspace economy

With drones, eVTOLs and personal flying vehicles about to take to the skies in increasing numbers, this award acknowledges the work that has been done to prepare lower airspace for safe and efficient new entrant operations, including integration with current ATM systems and procedures.

Remarkable people & workforce

This award celebrates the contribution that individuals, teams or company programmes have made to the airspace management industry – which could be ensuring the continuance of operations during crises or delivering an improved performance to customers.

Seamless Skies for All

A project or organisation which has delivered a measurable improvement to the optimisation of airspace management performance, supporting airspace users meet their business and operational goals.

Entries should be a maximum of up to 1,000 words, with no more than two PDF attachments and one video link to support the topic. A guide to submitting a good award entry is available here

Further entry criteria and the link to submit an entry will be live on 5 January. In the meantime, any questions can be sent to awards@globalairspaceradar.com