Europe reaches broad consensus to open the RPAS market
Europe is aiming to be a frontrunner in the development of the drone industry following the announcement of the Riga Declaration on Civil RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems).
The announcement came after the Latvian government and the European Commission held a joint conference last week to address and develop the opportunities and concerns of the RPAS industry.
Aerialtronics shared knowledge on market and industry developments together with politicians, legislators, industry leaders and civil societies. The conference was a significant sign from all parties involved that Europe intends to maintain its competitive edge as the European drone market opens in 2016.
The Netherlands was well represented at the conference. Aerialtronics and Clear Flight Solutions gave an industry perspective and did a live flight demonstration with their drones.
The event comes on the back of the EC Communication on the RPAS market – [EC COM (2014) 207] A New Era for Aviation – opening the aviation market to the civil use of RPAS in a safe and sustainable manner.
The two-day conference was opened by Anrijs Martiss, minister for transport of Latvia, and Joao Aguiar Machado, director general of directorate general mobility and transport, European Commission.
A broad consensus was laid down to allow civil RPAS operations throughout Europe from 2016 onwards in the Riga Declaration on Civil RPAS (Drones). The main principles are:
1. Drones need to be treated as new types of aircraft with proportionate rules based on the risk of each operation.
2. EU rules for the safe provision of drone services need to be developed now.
3. Technologies and standards need to be developed for the full integration of drones into the European airspace.
4. Public acceptance is key to the growth of drone services.
5. The operator of a drone is responsible for its use.
Lucas van Oostrum, chief technology officer at Aerialtronics who attended the conference said: “This conference is a great positive development. The benefits of RPAS are becoming clear to politicians, legislators and civil societies. Together we are setting the path to an open RPAS market.”
About Aerialtronics
Aerialtronics is a leading international manufacturer of state of the art, high quality unmanned aircraft systems for civilian purposes. The company sells multirotor Alturas for a wide variety of applications in numerous countries worldwide. Aerialtronics’ systems are designed and developed in-house according to aviation grade quality standards making the Altura systems consistently reliable as well as stable. Aerialtronics defines the future of unmanned aircraft systems!
