Drone news
What is changing for drone operators and the people who hire them: CAA rules, industry news and a daily round-up from the UK Drone Directory news desk.
Loading stories
Daily update29 September 20267 min read
Daily update, 29 September: a national drone test centre, CAP 3040 revised, Cyberhawk and SSE
A national drone testing centre is coming to Westcott, backed by £2.25 million from Buckinghamshire Council. The CAA's fourth edition of CAP 3040 adds a route to multi-site operations. And Cyberhawk keeps SSE's networks for three years.
caacap 3040atypical air environmentbvlossatellite applications catapult
Daily update28 September 20264 min read
Daily update, 28 September: high-seas drone consultation, prison counter-drone bids, Viking
The CAA wants views by 8 November on treating every drone flight over the high seas in UK-run airspace as a hazard to be coordinated. The Ministry of Justice opens counter-drone bids for prisons. And Viking's VCA first.
caaconsultationhigh seasoffshorecap 3312
Story28 September 20264 min read
Chichester firm's drone container for radiopharmaceuticals wins a first from the VCA
The Vehicle Certification Agency has told Viking Drone Packaging that its crash protected container meets the requirements for carrying radiopharmaceuticals by drone. Operators still need CAA approval before they can fly such loads.
dangerous goodsradiopharmaceuticalscrash protected containervehicle certification agencyvca
Story22 September 20265 min read
Welsh drone cleaning firm KTV Working Drone takes £300,000 loan for jobs and a London office
The Pontyclun operator, which cleans and inspects commercial buildings by drone, has borrowed from the Development Bank of Wales to buy drones that fly in higher winds, create five jobs and open a satellite office in London.
drone cleaningbuilding inspectionwalesdevelopment bank of walesktv working drone
Story21 September 20264 min read
Flylogix flies a drone from Shetland to a Norwegian platform in a UK civilian first
An uncrewed aircraft flew 290 nautical miles from Tingwall Airport to survey Equinor's Statfjord B platform for methane on 11 July, reported on 21 September as the first civilian cross-border drone flight from the UK.
bvlosoffshoremethanenorth seashetland
Story16 September 20263 min read
British Transport Police says it is the first UK force flying BVLOS drones as routine
A BT release says BTP launches drones remotely from seven drone-in-a-box sites on the rail network and flies them from its London Bridge operations centre over EE's mobile network, with up to 14 sites planned within two years.
bvlospolicerailbritish transport policebt
Daily update15 September 20264 min read
Daily update, 15 September: CAP 1616 rewritten, a drone seized near Luton, Warminster goes live
The CAA's revised CAP 1616 takes effect on 1 October with a streamlined route for short-term airspace changes. Police seized a drone flown inside Luton Airport's restriction zone. And the Army's first passive drone detection is live.
caacap1616airspace-changelutonflight-restriction-zone
Story15 September 20265 min read
Warminster garrison gets the first passive drone detection system at a British Army base
A GOV.UK case study says two UK suppliers, Dedrone and Quell, fitted a layered detection system at the Wiltshire garrison in under six months. It logged 29 drone alerts in its first 17 days and can pick out the pilot as well as the drone.
counter-dronedetectiondefencededronequell
Story14 September 20265 min read
Amazon asks the CAA to extend Darlington drone deliveries to the whole town
After more than 500 flights from its County Durham site, Amazon has applied to the Civil Aviation Authority to fly Prime Air drones across all of Darlington. Permission is expected "very soon", and the whole UK is the stated aim.
deliveryamazonprime-aircaadarlington
Story9 September 20263 min read
Hampshire puts trained volunteer drone pilots on call to its police control room
Five volunteers have passed a bespoke drone operators' course and can now be sent to live rural incidents by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, in a pilot the force believes is the first of its kind in the country.
policingruralvolunteershampshireoperations
Story8 September 20265 min read
Think tank asks ministers to fast-track a drone airspace pilot at Lydd Airport, with Doncaster and Cotswold next in line
The Good Growth Foundation says Lydd is the UK airport most ready to prove a "Special Use Airspace" model for drones, autonomous aircraft and conventional flying, and that the slow airspace change process is what stands in the way.
airspacepolicykenttestingregulation
Story7 September 20263 min read
Synnovis and Apian to fly urgent samples to a Blackfriars lab hub this autumn on Matternet drones
The pathology provider behind the UK's first medical drone delivery service says its next routes will carry bone marrow samples from Guy's and St Thomas' to its Blackfriars laboratory, after a pilot that moved more than 6,000 samples.
medicaldeliverylondonoperations