Drone transports are estimated to become increasingly common in the near future – but what is required to realise this vision?
Currently, the professional use of drones is mainly limited to areas outside residential centres, where their presence is less noticeable to consumers. Bringing drone transports closer to people’s everyday lives will require a common information service that can help different actors safely share the same airspace.
In the future, unmanned aerial vehicles – i.e. drones – are set to become increasingly prevalent, for example in the delivery of medicines and online purchases. This belief is reflected in Fintraffic’s large traffic survey, where one in three respondents expect drone transports to become more common in Finland over the next four to five years. Those between the ages of 25 and 34 were most confident in the rapid increase in drone transports.
According to Pasi Nikama, Senior Vice President at Fintraffic Air Navigation Services, this four-year leap is achievable, but it will require a common set of rules for the different actors operating in public airspaces. In addition, it will require commercial operators who are willing to develop their drone transport services as part of their own activities.
"The amendment to the Aviation Act in February 2023 permitted the designation of so-called U-space airspaces in Finland, where drones can operate safely with other aircraft. The aim of this amendment is to support the development of drone-related activities and business, as well as to enable the diverse utilisation of unmanned aviation services in the market. However, we're still lacking a common information service (CIS) for U-space airspaces that can help manage how information is shared between different actors,” Nikama says.
The CIS provider would be responsible for providing the information necessary for making U-space airspaces work, such as data related to airspace use. Above all, without a CIS, no U-space airspaces can be established.
Involving cities in the planning of drone transports
According to Nikama, services that use drones typically operate outside residential centres, in separately reserved areas. To allow for the more efficient use of drones in consumer services, they must be permitted to fly in cities and other residential zones. For this to happen, an airspace manager is required to ensure that everything can go according to plan.
“When you bring drone transports closer to people in cities and other population centres, the cities themselves play a key role in determining the extent to which drones can operate within their airspace. We want cities to be more actively involved in determining how they want to approach drone transports, where drones will be permitted to operate, and under what conditions," says Nikama.
Drones are becoming increasingly prevalent
According to Fintraffic’s traffic survey, 3% of respondents said that they own a drone that they fly a few times a month or every now and then. Nikama emphasises that drones are used not only for private purposes but also in, for example, game surveys, real estate photography, and agricultural operations.
“Currently, the largest drone operator in Finland is the police, as they employ hundreds of trained remote pilots. They use drones for various purposes, such as conducting searches and assessing hazardous situations. And new use cases are constantly emerging, even though they may not be immediately visible to the everyday consumer. That’s why it’s so important to ensure that we have clear-cut operating practices that meet the needs of the increasing number of drone pilots in Finland," Nikama concludes.
The large traffic survey by Fintraffic was conducted nation-wide between 22 May 2023 and 25 May 2023. The survey was produced by Research Insight Finland. The survey had a total of 1021 respondents with an age range of 18 to 79 years. Respondent samples were weighted by age, gender and area of residence to represent their target groups.
