During the recent Airspace World 2026 event, Global Airspace Radar had the opportunity to speak with Magdalena Jaworska-Mackowiak, CEO, PANSA about a variety of topics showcasing PANSA’s activities, including the Seamless Skies Awards success.
Seamless Skies Award success
PANSA’s entry into the safety, security and resilience category not only won this category, but the Overall Excellence award. The category itself was defined as 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. What could be a more appropriate description of the situation that this team has been facing with the nearby conflict in the Ukraine.
The Skyward Synergy entry focused on Building Europe’s Most Resilient and Adaptive Airspace Through Civil-Military Collaboration. Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, military activity across the region has intensified significantly. Airspace requirements emerge rapidly and unpredictably, often requiring immediate activation of restricted areas to support national defence and NATO operations. This creates operational challenges for ATM and normal airspace planning models-based as predictable military training schedules are no longer sufficient.
2025 at a glance
- 250+ dynamic areas enabling real-time airspace configuration
- Sustained military activity throughout 2025
- ASM-related delay reduced from 8,096 minutes (2022) to 2,930 minutes (2025).
Civil-miliatry collaboration as the answer
PANSA addressed this challenge by mastering an integrated civil-military coordination operational ecosystem. At the centre is a dynamic Collaborative Decision-Making framework that connects civil aviation authorities, military command structures, and national security stakeholders.
This system enables:
- real-time airspace allocation
- automated exchange of ASM data
- rapid activation of temporary and ad-hoc airspace areas
- shared situational awareness across all stakeholders.
Operational planning and tactical airspace management are coordinated dynamically rather than planned separately. More than 250 flexible-use airspace areas are registered in the Network Manager CACD database, making it one of the most adaptable airspace structures in Europe. These areas can be activated dynamically depending on operational requirements and implemented within minutes. This modular structure allows rapid reconfiguration of the airspace while minimising disruption to civil aviation traffic flows.
These developments did not occur overnight. They actually began 20 years ago with the support of SESAR funding. Iterations have taken place during peace time and war time and they are currently on their 3rd iteration. It might seem odd that you haven’t heard a lot about this working relationship in the past over this long period of time, but the reality is that when things are working you don’t hear about them, it’s when things don’t work that they make the news.
Drones in Poland
It is required by law to register every drone flight in Poland with PANSA system. Soon there will be ten drone competency centres supporting a variety of topics – testing drones, tracking and safe test spaces. For drones to grow in the commercial market they not only need certification, they also need a business case. We believe that tracking infrastructure, integrated systems, as well as huge use of drones by public authorities and public order services would boost the drone market development.
Leveraging EU funding
PANSA actively pursues European Union co-financed opportunities to leverage the benefits of technological projects and today has take part in 172m Euros worth of co-financed programmes since 2012.
There are over 50 projects which they have been involved in that have received funding from the European Union, SESAR Joint Undertaking and the SESAR Deployment Manager. These ATM-focused projects will bring shared technology into play to enhance system scalability, resilience and the ability to support traffic growth.
Future workforce
Our industry is challenged to attract more women and young talent. And for women it’s not only attracting them initially, but the ability to provide appealing career paths. I wanted to understand Magdalena’s thoughts on this subject.
Today, ATCOs at PANSA are made up of about 22-23% women. “The first thing we need to do to increase this number is to change the message and the way we deliver it.”
PANSA receives hundreds of applications for ATCO roles and currently have nearly 200 in training. Last year 42 were licensed. This year, they are also striving to achieve a high level of effectiveness in training. They also have a female deputy CTO and a dozen women in managerial roles within the technology areas.
I was given the opportunity to have a 1×1 discussion with a 21 year-old female intern who was joining the event in Lisbon to hear her views on what we need to do to attract individuals in her demographic. The overarching factor was to communicate first and foremost about people and experiences; not about money as an attractor. Today communications are too official and not at all fun.
Social media is a great way to explain what they are doing, espcially Instagram and TikTok. Although Facebook and LinkedIn to reach their parents is still valuable, but the message might vary. Women are also more hesitant to apply to a role where they don’t initially meet all of the criteria, there needs to be some messaging about opportunities to learn and grow on the job.
Lastly, I asked about her experience so far at PANSA. “I feel like they care about their employees and provide mentorship to help us succeed. This makes me feel very comfortable at PANSA.”
