Transport Online – Experts gathered in Amsterdam to promote the use of drones in the city
AMSTERDAM – Cities, aviation authorities and large companies will gather in the RAI Amsterdam from Tuesday for a three-day conference on drones. In the Netherlands alone, the number of unmanned aircraft has doubled in the past seven years, but so has the number of unmanned aircraft. At Amsterdam Drone Week (ADW), more than 250 industry experts will gather to discuss how drones can take on a more mature role in urban transport.
Zipline will make an appearance at the conference, organized by the European aviation authority EASA. The American start-up is developing systems that allow drones to deliver to areas that are difficult to access, especially in Ghana and Rwanda. In addition, a drone for medical transport is on display. PostNL, KPN, the ANWB and Erasmus MC are working on this unmanned aircraft together with the Amsterdam developer of drones Avy. In the autumn of 2021, the Zwolle hospital will be conducting test flights for the transport of blood for transfusions.
According to ADW, drones have completed a landmark development in recent years for techniques that are experiencing hype. A few years ago there were high expectations around unmanned aircraft, later the disappointment came that drones could not live up to all of them. Now that the hype is over, drones are being used more often by companies and organizations.
Missing regulations
According to ADW, for example, there is a market with a converted value of almost 2.7 billion euros for the use of drones in construction. For example, the flying devices are already being used for making 3D images of construction sites of construction equipment. The energy sector also makes use of drones, for example to map out new areas to extract oil and gas. In the transport sector, rail operators and port authorities often use drones for infrastructure inspection.
But the fragmented or missing regulations for the use of drones in populated areas are often still a problem. For example, we still have to wait for a European uniform that shows to which class a drone belongs. Such a label is necessary to know for each type of aircraft what is and is not allowed, such as flying near people’s buildings. Representatives of different cities and regions, including Amsterdam, Enschede, Stockholm, Madrid and Bavaria, exchange ideas in the RAI for greater unity in the regulation of unmanned aviation in the city.