Slowly but surely, routing drone deliveries as once predicted by Jeff Bezos from Amazon are becoming a reality. Making beyond visual line of sight drone operations commonplace is a big step in that direction and in the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority just made a big announcement. See below for details.
On their website today, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announces new drone and model aircraft registration and education service that will come into effect and law on November 30, 2019, in the UK. Any drone pilot or operator flying a drone between 250 grams (0.55 lbs) and 20 kilograms (88 lbs) will need to register as an operator. The registration will need to be renewed every year for a cost of £9 or almost $12 USD.
Earlier today SenSat, the UK’s largest drone data provider, broke the country’s record for the longest beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone flight as their fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle flew more than 7.5 miles (12km’s) over land. The UK’s Civilian Aviation Authority (CAA) had created a temporary danger zone, which is an airspace that other aircraft are not allowed to enter, to safely conduct this record-breaking test.
The British Civil Aviation Agency CAA said that drones had become one of the most wanted Christmas gifts under the tree this year. Two million drones are already in the air in the U.K. but the CAA expects 1.5 million could be added after the Holiday season is over.