Let the drones fly high Business is booming as regulators relax drone laws
ALTHOUGH DRONES, or uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) as they are also known, were originally developed for military target practice and surveillance, the civilian versions that have emerged over the past decade have created a thriving new industry. Commercial UAVs, especially the hovering type, are now used for jobs ranging from inspecting power lines, buildings and crops, to aerial photography, transporting medical supplies and, in some places, delivering pizzas. The worldwide value of this business reached $22.5bn last year, according to Drone Industry Insights, a German research firm with its eye on the market. By 2025 that figure is expected to be more than $42bn.
Something helping to accelerate this growth is a gradual relaxation of the strictures that aviation authorities, being naturally cautious about all these new-fangled flying machines taking to the sky, have imposed on the industry. In most countries, drones may not be flown near people or over built-up areas, and must be kept within view of their operator. Exemptions may be sought for specific flights, but this can be a long-winded process, hedged with restrictions. For instance, regulators have usually insisted on ground observers being used to follow flights beyond an operator’s visual line-of-sight, or BVLOS as it’s known. This means extra staff have to be hired and trained, which pushes up costs.
However, as companies build up their flying experience, things are starting to change. In January, for example, a firm called American Robotics became the first operator approved by America’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly automated UAVs at specific sites without any pilots or observers being present. Staff at the company’s base near Boston oversee these flights, even though the drones operate as far away as Nevada and Kansas.
