Australia, Frequentis to create UTM for 60 million drones by 2043

Seemingly ever vying for the title as the antipodean Texas, Australia does everything big – really big – a penchant once again reflected in its forecast of becoming home to over 60 million drone flights by 2043.

Last month airspace safety authority Airservices Australia issued its eye-opening estimate that the nation’s current traffic of 1.5 million annual drone flights will skyrocket to 60.4 million by 2043. That’s an enormous figure by any measure, but it gets an extra boost by what some observers will consider larger class craft. By that final year, nearly a million of those outings are attributed to air taxi services. 

Still, that’s an astonishing additional number of aircraft to be taking to the skies in just two decades. To deal with that, Airservices Australia has hired Frequentis Australasia to develop a digital uncrewed traffic management (UTM) system to integrate the surge into the nation’s wider airspace.

Government-owned Airservices Australia is responsible for the country’s 11% share of the world’s total airspace. It will now depend on Frequentis Australasia to create a Flight Information Management System (FIMS) to share information between air traffic control, traditional aircraft, and uncrewed airspace users. According to the agency’s forecasts, that’s going to be a big job involving Texas-sized numbers.

Drone traffic is expected to be driven most by the transport and logistics sector, which is slated to generate 77 per cent of that activity by 2043. Food deliveries are anticipated to account for 1.5 million UAV outings, with Australian farmers slated to make 500,000 flights annually. Emergency services by police, fire, medical, and lifeguard services should contribute about another half million. 

Then there’s the million air taxis.

Frequentis Australasia has been given the formidable assignment of creating a digital UTM system to keep all those craft steering clear from each other. It then must pair that tech with Australia’s traditional aircraft traffic navigation platform in harmonious operation.

“Drones are the biggest growth area in aviation and our partnership with Frequentis to develop a FIMS will enable us to integrate traditional and new airspace users into increasingly busy airspace,” said Jason Harfield, Airservices Australia’s CEO. “With Frequentis, we will develop a FIMS that meets the needs of Australian airspace users and ensures we can safely integrate millions of drone flights with other users. I’m confident the new FIMS will encourage the growing drone market to reach its full potential in Australia.”

The contract in Oz is the most recent of the Frequentis group’s work designing UTM systems for regulators across the globe, including in several European Union nations. Martin Rampl, managing director of the company’s Australian unit, says that experience will be vital in rising to the challenges of the new contract.

“Frequentis is the only company worldwide to have successfully delivered UTM solutions to multiple Air Navigation Service Providers,” Rampl said. “This strategic partnership with Airservices Australia represents another important milestone in our mission to support the Australian airspace ecosystem with safe, efficient and compliant integration of drones while fostering innovation and economic growth.”