Under a European Union Aviation Safety Association (EASA)-implemented project, European and South American partners are conducting targeted technical exchanges, operational assessments, and regulatory coordination on satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS).
Although the second iteration of the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Aviation Partnership Project (EU-LAC APP II) formally concluded in September 2025, participating governments and regional organizations have expressed a clear intention to continue cooperation under a prospective EU-LAC APP III, identifying SBAS as a priority area for sustained technical and institutional engagement.
Ongoing progress has built on momentum generated by an EASA-supported regional workshop held in Lima in April 2025, where participants established a permanent SBAS working group tasked with coordinating planning, technical alignment, and implementation efforts across participating states and air navigation service providers.
Activities under EU-LAC APP are organized into defined work streams, structured around six practical pillars: governance and institutional arrangements; ionospheric monitoring and modeling; demonstrator and validation testbeds; cost-benefit and financing analysis; capacity building and training; and an implementation roadmap.
EASA has highlighted the initiative’s broader impact on regulatory and operational practices, including close coordination with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). At an EU-LAC APP forum, ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar said “The cooperation established by the project with ICAO regional offices has been unique in the world,” underscoring the depth of institutional involvement supporting continuing SBAS activities.
As of late 2025, participating stakeholders have outlined next steps focused on phased demonstrator concepts and validation testbeds, including testing of SBAS corrections and localizer performance with vertical guidance (LPV) procedures.
Why it matters
A South American SBAS would materially improve vertical guidance and precision-approach availability across regional airports, especially in terrain-challenged or remote locations. EU-LAC APP also creates a mechanism for European technical support, including sharing of expertise, standards and training, while keeping governance and ownership regional.
Industry contributors, including Spanish technology and consulting company Indra, regional air navigation service providers and European SBAS experts. A provisional timetable has demonstrator design and initial field trials ramping up by mid-2026.
Participants have also examined the potential for future regional data-sharing hubs and identified candidate pilot airports capable of supporting SBAS demonstrators, including Lima, Bogota, and Brasilia. In parallel, discussions are underway on targeted training cohorts to upskill air navigation service provider engineers and regulators.
A follow-up working group meeting is expected in early 2026 to confirm demonstrator sites, timelines, and financing approaches, and to initiate coordinated lab-to-field test campaigns at the national level.
