AirMap, one of the most popular apps used by drone operators to gain a Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) nod to fly in controlled airspace at or below 400 feet, has announced the decision to shut down its LAANC service.
DroneUp, a drone services provider that US supermarket chain Walmart has invested in, has taken another significant step toward advancing safe last-mile drone deliveries. The Virginia-based startup has acquired AirMap, a leading airspace management software provider for drones.
Altitude Angel has announced it has hired two new senior sales team members who previously worked at AirMap and SOARIZON. The two new hires will collectively work across the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa).
AirMap has partnered with the Swiss ANSP to provide drone pilots with official aeronautical information via skyguide’s new geo-awareness applications. The partnership will allow for skyguide users to access up-to-date airspace and active airspace schedule information.
DJI’s GO 4 app is great for a majority of its users. But for those wanting something more powerful in terms of mapping capabilities or mission planning, some alternatives have risen to the top over the years, including Litchi, Airmap, Pix4D, and UgCS for DJI.
Drone identification (or remote ID) is the elephant in the room and needs to be resolved before large scale commercial drone operations will become possible. Alphabet’s Wing is currently testing a new identification system for airborne drones together with two other companies, AirMap Inc. and Kittyhawk. Contrary to DJI’s Aeroscope, this drone identification system uses different software application linked to a common web-based system.
Last week during InterDrone, Dan Elwell, the Acting Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had stated that the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability or LAANC roll-out would be completed before the end of the month. Well, it seems that the FAA is ahead of schedule. As of today the Central North States have been activated. This is the last region to come on board. LAANC is now available for commercial drone operators nationwide. Allowing pilots to get near real-time approval for their flight plans. In the past, the approval or waiver process used to take weeks if not months. The availability of LAANC throughout the country represents a huge milestone in the development of commercial drone applications.
Skyguide and AirMap join forces to bring Europe’s first unmanned traffic system for drones to Switzerland. The so-called U-Space system has been deployed and tested since June 2018 and is expected to be fully operational by the summer of 2019. Regardless of the name (U-Space or UTM as we call it in the US) an automated drone traffic management system is considered a requirement to safely integrate unmanned air traffic on a large scale into the manned airspace and thus to allow services such as drone deliveries, inspections, and other services.
Announced by the co-founder and chairman of Airmap himself, Ben Marcus: “you can now fly your DJI drone directly from the AirMap app for iOS and Android.” This is really convenient as Airmap is the app I use all the time, before starting a drone flight. Why? To make sure that I am ok to fly my drone at a certain location and stay clear from any airports or TFR’s.
In a press release, we learn that leading airspace intelligence platform Airmap will partner with Skyguide, a Swiss air navigation provider to create Europe’s first National drone traffic management system. The Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system, also known as U-space, will be first launched in Switzerland.
Starting today, Part 107 drone operators, or commercial drone pilots, can use the Skyward Low Altitude Airspace Notification Capability (LAANC) cloud solution to request automated FAA approval to fly their drones in controlled airspace.