Andres Van Swalm Elected President of Alliance for New Mobility Europe (AME)

Antwerp, Belgium — July 10, 2025 — The Alliance for New Mobility Europe (AME) has appointed Andres Van Swalm as its new President, effective July 1, 2025. His appointment reflects AME’s continued commitment to supporting the safe, scalable, and harmonised integration of drones into European airspace.

Andres Van Swalm is CEO and Co-Founder of Unifly, a provider of UAS Traffic Management (UTM) solutions and aviation consulting services. He has over a decade of experience in ATM, UTM, and drone regulation, and has contributed significantly to the technical and regulatory evolution of drone integration in Europe.

Christoph Raab, AME’s founding Secretary General, will step down from his role at the end of the month. He played a key role in the association’s creation and in establishing its position as a reference for drone integration policy in Europe. Anita Schneider will take over the role of Secretary General.

Jan-Eric Putze (CEO of Droniq) will transition from President to Vice President. Daniel Garcia-Monteavaro (Head of Drone Business Development at ENAIRE) and Enrique Ventas García (Global Growth Director at ITG) will continue to serve on the executive board. AME also announces that Jürgen Verstaen, Innovation Director and Co-Founder of Unifly, has stepped down from his role as Vice President.

On the day of his appointment, Van Swalm represented AME at the Working Group on Space, Security & Defence 2025, organized by the Kangaroo Group at the European Parliament. The event, titled “Europe’s Space Momentum: Turning Ambition into Action!”, addressed the strategic alignment of Europe’s space, defense, and innovation agendas.

During the session, Van Swalm underlined the progress already made: the EU has a drone regulatory framework ready to scale, and U-space regulation as a pioneering model for enabling drone operations in complex airspace. However, while the foundations are in place, other regions are moving faster — highlighting the need for renewed political commitment and operational delivery.

Van Swalm outlined the following key priorities:

Reinforcing EASA and national civil aviation authorities, which are under-resourced and overstretched
Updating regulation to accommodate automation, drone-in-a-box systems, and operations involving one pilot controlling multiple drones

Scaling SESAR-funded deployment projects, such as BURDI (Belgium) and U-ELCOME (Italy and Spain), and replicating them across Member States

Promoting harmonization across Member States to allow safe, seamless drone operations at European scale

Ensuring more funding from Europe to scale proven approaches and bridge gaps in implementation

Strengthening civil–military coordination, as commercial and defence drones will increasingly operate in the same airspace. C-UAS systems must be integrated into a wider, coordinated airspace strategy that includes U-space, digital infrastructure, and public safety

Investing in vertiport infrastructure to support the development of Urban Air Mobility

“These are not long-term ambitions, but immediate steps to strengthen the drone ecosystem and secure Europe’s position globally,”

ANDRES VAN SWALM | CEO & CO-FOUNDER AT UNIFLY

About Unifly

Unifly is a leading aviation tech company dedicated to enhancing the safety and efficiency of autonomous aviation with cutting-edge technology. The Unifly platform is a crucial bridge within the UAS ecosystem, enabling the safe, secure and efficient integration of next-generation aircraft into the airspace. By digitizing and automating traffic management, Unifly bridges the gap between drones, Urban Air Mobility (UAM), and existing aviation infrastructure. With a proven track record of more than ten UTM deployments worldwide, Unifly is shaping the future of air traffic management, preparing for the exponential growth of airspace operations in the coming decades.

About AME

The Association of New Mobility Europe (AME) is a Brussels-based non-profit organization dedicated to advancing sustainable, digital, and inclusive mobility across the European Union. AME brings together mobility innovators, regulators, technology providers, and civil society to accelerate the development and adoption of next-generation transport systems.

For media inquiries or to schedule interviews, please contact: press@unifly.aero.