Altitude Angel, a trusted UTM (Unified Traffic Management) technology provider, is to widen the roll-out of its recently launched Approval Services platform to include property and large land estates.
Described by Aviation Minister Baroness Vere as ‘a key step for UK aviation,’ the Approval Services platform will allow owners and managers of large areas of land and real-estate to grant access and give permission to drone operators wishing to use the land for take-off and landing purposes.
Gaining access to private land is often difficult and time consuming for drone operators. Having identified an area of land which is most advantageous for them to conduct their flight, drone operators are required to find out who manages the land to seek approval, a process which can take many hours, days, or even weeks. Under the new platform, drone operators will be able to request access to land digitally via the Drone Assist app or via DroneSafetyMap.com, where landowners and managers have signed up to the platform, and in some instances will be able to receive near- instant approval.
Chris Forster, Altitude Angel, Chief Operating Officer, said: “By giving landowners, estate managers and those responsible for large areas of real-estate the tools to approve drone operations from the land they manage, we’re opening new places to fly and widening commercial opportunities.
“Drone operators will be able to request permission at the touch of a button and receive a response or instruction with regards to their flight in a matter of seconds, removing the time-consuming and costly process of seeking out a landowner or manager. The platform will reduce their administration burden, giving operators more time to do the best part of the job, flying.”
In May, Altitude Angel released several significant upgrades to Drone Assist which included a feature providing a direct connection to Altitude Angel’s UTM platform, offering ‘one-tap flight authorisations’ at connected airports and facilities worldwide. Already established as the flight planning app for professional and recreational drone pilots alike, Drone Assist is the foundation stone on which the UK can build a £40billion drone economy.
