Australian Aviation - July 2018

84 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION

OUT OF

SIGHT

N

ew Zealand’s commercial

drone market is booming,

largely thanks to a collaborative

approach by its Civil Aviation

Authority.

Its Part 101 consultation rules

and Part 102 unmanned aircraft

certification has resulted in 108

unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

receiving certification in the past few

years.

More than 400 commercial UAV

users are registered on the website of

their national body, UAVNZ.

UAVNZ chair Andy Grant said

if a commercial operator is able to

demonstrate a safe way of bringing

a drone business to market then the

CAA is very open to discussing and

accommodating new developments.

As the market for commercial

applications opens up in a wide

number of fields, be it agriculture,

mining, search and rescue, urban

planning or anywhere where an

unmanned vehicle can go where it is

risky for manned vehicles and where it

makes economic sense, New Zealand’s

commercial operators are jumping in.

Now the focus is on technology

and applications for flying beyond the

line-of-sight (BLOS).

A report commissioned by

Callaghan Innovation, a government

organisation tasked with making New

Zealand business more innovative,

estimated last year that flying drones

out of the operator’s line of sight

could provide economic gains of up

to NZ$190 million annually to the

country’s farming, forestry and energy

sectors.

Last year Taranaki drone company

Drone Technologies controlled

remotely an unmanned aircraft in New

Zealand’s first “beyond line-of-sight”

CAA-approved flight to inspect a

30km section of power transmission

lines in the Rimutaka Ranges near

Wellington for electricity utility,

Transpower.

Managing director Ben Plummer

said the flight demonstrated the

importance of beyond line-of-sight

in industry and agriculture, in risky

conditions, delivering parcels and

medical supplies to remote locations

or communities in crisis.

For the trial the drone had the

same procedures, safety checks and

planning as a manned flight, including

a flightplan, getting permission to

operate in that airspace at that time,

Drones in NZ

WRITER: DENISE MCNABB

New Zealand pushes boundaries

with commercial drones

‘New

Zealand’s

commercial

operators are

jumping in.’