LVNL launches a tender for a UTM platform in the Netherlands

(02)Dutch provider seeks UTM supplier

avy.eu — Drone services Netherlands | Avy — a full drone operations team — source

LVNL, the Dutch air navigation service provider, is looking for a supplier to develop and deploy a UTM platform. Bids are expected until 15 December 2026 at 12:00 CET. The tender was published on 29 October 2026. The contract value is not stated. The detailed functional scope is not specified.

UTM refers to the management of traffic of aircraft without a pilot on board, integrated into existing airspace. For LVNL, the challenge concerns the interaction between drone flights and air traffic control. The Dutch provider publishes access procedures for the country's civil terminal control areas. A UTM platform must therefore interface with rules already in force, without replacing the controller.

LVNL does not come to this field without history. On 6 June 2023, in Rome, the ENAV group announced that its subsidiary IDS AirNav had signed a contract with LVNL. IDS AirNav is presented as a company specialising in aeronautical information management systems. This contract covers aeronautical information systems, not the UTM platform that is the subject of the tender.

(03)Bids are expected until 15 December 2026 at 12:00 CET

The timetable is set. The tender was published on 29 October 2026. Interested companies have until 15 December 2026 at 12:00 CET to submit their proposal. The planned start of the project is 31 May 2027. The number of candidates, the award criteria and the selection timetable are not detailed.

Just over six weeks separate publication from closing. This deadline concerns suppliers capable of responding to a UTM platform contract for an air navigation service provider. The tender opens a market to European suppliers of UTM platforms. The start is planned for 31 May 2027, after the closing.

(04)Integration with Dutch CTRs sets the level of requirements

Dutch rules give the measure of the expected integration. Since 20 May 2026, an application procedure applies to drone missions in the CTRs of Eelde, Lelystad, Maastricht, Rotterdam and Schiphol. Drone flights in controlled or uncontrolled civil airspace that exceed 120 m in altitude and/or cover an area with a radius greater than 500 m require a decision from the ILT. These rules concern operators, but they also define the flows that a UTM platform must handle.

In CTRs, a drone flight is considered a VFR flight. The operator must file a flight plan in advance, request clearance from the tower controller and maintain contact with them throughout the flight. GoDrone, LVNL's app and website, allows flights to be planned and tracked, and a flight plan to be filed. The UTM platform will have to interface with these procedures, or take them over, without the details of this interface being public.

LVNL has already conducted drone trials in an airport environment. On 21 March 2022, Dutch Drone Delta carried out an automated runway inspection at Rotterdam The Hague Airport with LVNL, Rotterdam The Hague Airport, Dura Vermeer and AirHub. The objective concerned the safe and efficient deployment of drones in airport areas where manned aviation is not affected. This phase followed flights carried out in 2020 at Amsterdam Schiphol.

On the operator side, the level of authorisation counts. Avy, a company based in Amsterdam, states that it holds one of the first LUC BVLOS in the Netherlands. A LUC (Light UAS Operator Certificate) is an operator certificate that allows operators to authorise certain operations themselves, without going back through the authority. Avy is approved by the Dutch aviation authority, under EASA Regulations 2019/947 and 2019/945, to authorise its own BVLOS operations within an agreed perimeter. This type of authorisation gives a benchmark to suppliers who will have to handle beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations in sensitive areas.

The Dutch UTM market nevertheless leaves several points open. The exact scope of the services expected, the value and the technical arrangements of the tender are not detailed. Suppliers can position themselves on the timetable and on the known integration rules. Responding to the tender requires documenting how their platform fits into CTR procedures and into the GoDrone system.