Participant Info Sheet available here.

We lead a large consortium of organisations that will be undertaking a national programme of drone flights targeted at carriage of medical supplies and urgent items for the NHS.

Having already undertaken many Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights, we want to engage with a wide cross section of commercial drone operators and other associated organisations from within the drone industry sector.

We want to do this because the widespread use of large, long range (BVLOS) drones will particularly impact users of uncontrolled airspace (such as class G). We appreciate that within this class users currently have freedom of access and a relative lack of controls and constraints.

Long range drone operations potentially introduce loss of uncontrolled airspace (through the use of Temporary Danger Areas, TDAs) or the need for complex procedures and equipment (Transponder Mandatory Zones, TMZs), which can have detrimental impacts on other airspace users.

The forum will give an overview of the likely exploitation and impact of drone technology over the next few years. It aims to allow a wide range of stakeholders to raise issues and give their viewpoint. In particular, we want to propose a new class of airspace (“Class Lima”) aimed at harmonious integration of drones with crewed aircraft in shared airspace, and want your participation in the design of this.

The outcome of the forum will be recorded, and the results published.