UK drone trials show BVLOS flights are ready for reality

Flying drones beyond visual line of sight is one thing. Doing it repeatedly, with multiple aircraft, across one of the UK’s busiest and most tightly controlled airspaces, is something else entirely. And that’s exactly what Skylift UAV has pulled off.

Over June and July 2025, the UK-based drone operator completed what’s being called one of the country’s most ambitious civil drone trials to date — coordinated Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations across the Solent, the UK’s busiest stretch of water. The flights mark a national aviation first and a major milestone for how drones could operate alongside traditional aircraft in real-world, safety-critical environments.

Skylift led the drone operations under the Solent Future Transport Zone’s Drones for Medical Logistics (DfML) project, flying multiple uncrewed aircraft simultaneously under a Civil Aviation Authority-approved Airspace Change Proposal. The operations were conducted from Fort Cumberland in Portsmouth, inside a Temporary Danger Area, and coordinated closely with the Coastguard, police, and air ambulance services.

According to Tim Forrester, program manager for the Solent Future Transport Zone, the trials were designed to push drone operations out of theory and into practice. The project, he says, shows what’s possible when regulators, universities, and both public and private sectors work together. Lessons from the trials will continue to inform UK transport policy into 2026.

At the heart of the project is a practical goal: reliable medical logistics between the UK mainland and the Isle of Wight. That route presents unique challenges, from weather conditions to congested airspace, making it an ideal stress test for drone delivery.

Skylift’s role was to prove that BVLOS medical logistics flights can be carried out legally, safely, and repeatedly — even in environments where helicopters, maritime traffic, and emergency services are all operating at once. The success of the Solent trials strengthens the case that drones could eventually support time-critical deliveries such as blood, pathology samples, and essential medicines.

The Solent operations didn’t come out of nowhere. They build on Skylift’s earlier BVLOS work, including Project ALIAS off the coast of Jersey in 2024, where the company demonstrated offshore airspace integration capabilities. “Our focus has always been on solving real logistical challenges,” says Skylift CEO and cofounder Toby Moores. He notes that the project shows drones can move beyond demos and into dependable medical delivery roles, especially in hard-to-reach locations.

It’s also important to note that the trials weren’t just about flying. Skylift also partnered with the University of Southampton and Danish drone firm Hecto Drone to study how sensitive medical payloads behave in flight. Using the HD-606 hybrid multirotor — capable of carrying up to 25 kilograms for as long as three hours — the team developed a detailed vibration profile to assess how drones affect life-saving medicines with limited shelf lives.

The research, believed to be among the first of its kind, could play a key role in validating drones as a safe platform for transporting sensitive medical supplies. Additional findings are expected to be published later.

Data gathered from the Solent trials will directly support the CAA’s long-term goal of moving BVLOS drone flights from segregated airspace into shared, non-segregated skies. That transition is critical if drones are ever going to operate at scale.

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