A new chapter for DEMETER: taking EUROCONTROL’s navigation planning tool to the cloud

GMV has been awarded a new contract by EUROCONTROL to migrate DEMETER to the cloud and support the tool’s maintenance and evolution over the next five years. The project was officially launched alongside the EUROCONTROL team, opening a new chapter in the long-standing collaboration between the two organizations.

DEMETER, or Distance Measuring Equipment Tracer, is EUROCONTROL’s dedicated software tool for assessing aircraft positioning performance based on signals from ground-based distance measuring equipment (DME) stations, a method known as DME/DME positioning. The tool also supports the planning and optimization of the underlying navigation infrastructure.

It assesses positioning performance both en route and around airports, enabling the design of precise aircraft departure, arrival, and cruise paths under performance-based navigation (PBN), in line with EUROCONTROL guidelines and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. In doing so, it has become a common workbench for airspace planners, procedure designers, navaids engineers, and flight inspectors involved in PBN implementation and ground navigation infrastructure optimization.

At a time of increasing GNSS vulnerability – from jamming and spoofing to space weather events – DEMETER’s relevance continues to grow. The tool is a cornerstone of PBN deployment and is increasingly being used for resilient navigation operational network (RON) planning, where DME/DME remains a dependable ground-based backup to satellite-based positioning.

Today, more than 65 organizations worldwide rely on DEMETER, including air navigation service providers across most member states of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), flight inspection providers, procedure design organizations, research institutes, and universities. The tool has also been used in SESAR projects for ECAC-wide navigation infrastructure assessments.

Migrating DEMETER to the cloud is the natural next step in better serving this growing community. The move will improve scalability and accessibility, while accelerating the delivery of new features to users. Over the next five years, GMV looks forward to continuing its support for EUROCONTROL and the wider aviation community throughout this important transition.