London, UK: Drone operators can now more easily access the airspace around Aberdeen, thanks to a digital flight approval service unveiled by the air traffic management service, NATS Services.
Drone pilots wanting to fly in or through the Flight Restriction Zone around the Aberdeen International Airport can now request access at the touch of a button. Operators can submit flight plans online or via the Altitude Angel Drone Assist app, which are then reviewed, approved or amended by the air traffic control team in as little as a few minutes. The service replaces a manual process which could sometimes take 14 days or more.
NATS Services hopes this will deliver both greater speed and certainty for drone operators and help to better process their requests, all while maintaining safety and situational awareness of what’s in the airspace.
The introduction of the digital flight Approval Services platform at Aberdeen is the first at an airport where NATS Services also provides the air traffic service and represents another step towards delivering a fully integrated airspace, where drones can operate safely and seamlessly alongside other aircraft.
Richard Ellis, NATS Services New Airspace Users Director, said: “We want to continue to support drone operators in and around Aberdeen airport, but they need certainty and a level of immediacy we couldn’t offer using the previous process. They will now be able to submit flight plans quickly and securely and get flying, while our controllers will continue to know exactly what is in the airspace around them at all times.”
Chris Forster, Altitude Angel, Chief Operating Officer, added: “We are excited to be able to help enable more drone operations within the FRZ at Aberdeen, giving the airport and their existing drone users an understanding of the airspace and who is operating within it, so everyone can fly safely and securely.”
Fiona Smith, AGS Airports, Sustainability Director, said “We have worked hand in hand with NATS over the years to ensure the safe integration of drone flights in and around the airport. We are delighted that this new safety enhancing tool will be rolled out at Aberdeen International Airport.”
The new paid for service is aimed primarily at commercial drone operators who need speed and certainty to support their businesses. A free service for hobbyist drone pilots who are willing to wait 14 days or more for their flight plan to be processed, will also be available.
NATS Services also expects to be able to extend the service to other airports where it provides the air traffic service in the coming months.
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Stephen Farmer, Altitude Angel, Head of Corporate Communications & PR, Altitude Angel
stephen@altitudeangel.com.
Notes to editors
To use Approval Services, commercial drone operators will be charged £35 per approval flight.
About Altitude Angel
Altitude Angel is an award-winning provider of UTM (Unified Traffic Management) software, enabling those planning to operate, or develop, UTM/U-Space solutions to quickly integrate robust data and services with minimum effort.
Today, Altitude Angel’s market-defining technology is providing a critical, enabling service on which the future of UTM will be built across the globe. Altitude Angel has been leading a consortium of businesses to build and develop a ‘drone superhighway’ connecting airspace above Reading, Oxford, Coventry, and Rugby. The SKYWAY superhighway network, enabled using Altitude Angel’s patented Arrow® technology, will unlock the huge potential offered by unmanned aerial vehicles and be a catalyst to enable growth in the urban air mobility industry.
Altitude Angel’s first party solutions also power some of the world’s leading ANSPs, aviation authorities and Enterprises, including NATS (Services) Ltd (UK), LVNL (Netherlands) and Avinor (Norway), empowering them with new capabilities to safely manage and integrate drone traffic into national operations.
By unlocking the potential of drones and helping national aviation authorities, ANSPs, developers and enterprise organisations, Altitude Angel is establishing new services to support the growth in the drone industry.
Altitude Angel was founded by Richard Parker in 2014 and is headquartered in Reading, UK.
Altitude Angel’s developer platform is open and available to all at https://developers.altitudeangel.com
About NATS
NATS is the UK’s principal air navigation services provider and is split into two main businesses, which provide two distinct services:
NATS (En Route) plc (NERL) — the regulated business, which provides air traffic management services to aircraft within UK airspace and over the eastern part of the North Atlantic; and
NATS (Services) Ltd (NSL) — the unregulated business, which provides air traffic control services at many of the UK’s major airports (15 civil and 7 military airfields) and other airports overseas.
NATS provides aerodrome, data, engineering, capacity, efficiency and environmental performance solutions to customers worldwide, including airports, airlines, air traffic service providers and governments.
NATS handled 2.4m flights in the UK in the last financial year (2023/24).
For more information visit the NATS website at www.nats.aero
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