UK

If aerial activity tracks changes in how societies are modifying funeral services, the demand for drone pilots qualified to scatter cremation ashes from on high may soon rise, as developments in the UK seem to suggest.

A trio of hospitals in the UK’s northwest is set to begin receiving blood and other patient lab samples by drones using designated air corridors over Morecambe Bay, with the objective of cutting transport time of using frequently clogged roads surrounding the large estuary.

In recent years, aerial tech both large and small has been developed and deployed for a rapidly expanding number of uses – from business applications to research, photography to firefighting, leisure flight to warfare. This weekend, a pilot in Northern Ireland city of Belfast took his drone to the sky to capture video of one neighborhood’s annual celebration for posterity – notably, this year’s truly insane “wheelie bin” garbage can race.

A group of aviation and drone sector companies in the UK are banding together to work toward increased use cases and frequency of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights across the nation, and propose policies to regulators permitting wider deployment of those missions.

A consortium of national health care and UAV organizations in Scotland has secured funding for the launch of what it says will be the UK’s first country-wide drone medical delivery and distribution system. 

The UK government has released a study it commissioned on the effects of drone activity in coming years, with best-case scenarios in it forecasting an additional $54 billion in economic growth and 650,000 potential new jobs by 2030.

The UK government announced Monday that it had given its awaited approval for the creation of a drone “superhighway” spanning the Midlands to the country’s southeast – a 165-mile UAV corridor touted as the longest of its kind.

Leading air taxi developer Joby has announced it has officially begun the process of seeking certification of its electric takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) in the UK, the second country in which it is doing so after its home US market.

A consortium has been formed by UK aviation companies, including Vertical Aerospace, Virgin Atlantic Airways, and Skyports, with the objective of testing and preparing the launch of electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) flight services, like air taxis, in what members call the world’s first full advanced air mobility (AAM) ecosystem.

One potential disruption from the UK’s Brexit from the European Union was definitively averted this week with the nation’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announcement that it will adopt the European Aviation Safety Agency’s standards for certifying next generation electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) will be deploying specialized drones to protect next month’s Commonwealth Games against potential Russian attacks, in what officials fear could be retaliatory action against London’s staunch support of Ukraine amid Moscow’s continuing invasion.

Planners in the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) are drawing consequences from the enormous effects of small commercial drones deployed in Ukraine’s defense against Russian invaders, and are turning to top-drawer consumer tech specialists like Skydio to muscle up their own UAV assets.

The special relationship and traditionally skintight closeness on security matters between both countries notwithstanding, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is buying DJI drones that the US government has blacklisted on data security concerns.

Despite earlier concerts by pop stars, appearances of celebrities, and speeches by royalty, it was UK drone performance specialist SKYMAGIC that stole the show Saturday night with its aerial salute to Queen Elizabeth II during the Platinum Jubilee celebration of her reign.

London-based electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Vertical Aerospace has negotiated an arrangement with UK and European Union civil aviation authorities to pursue concurrent vehicle validation of its VX4 air taxis.

Egg continues to congeal on the faces of officials involved in the notorious 2018 Gatwick Airport drone controversy – an enduring flap that may explain why a recent report of the “deliberate obstruction” of an approaching plane by a UAV in the restricted airspace wasn’t exactly shouted to the rooftops.

A pair of environmental non-governmental organizations in England are using drones – and a dose of humor – to measure the volume of cigarette butts littering the city of Bristol, and convince smokers to stop illegally flicking the polluting nubs in public spaces.

UK drone delivery and urban air mobility (UAM) infrastructure company Skyports has used creative ways to secure work from clients to design and develop future electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi vertiports. Now it has tried an inside-the-box method it hadn’t before: buying an existing helicopter terminal to repurpose for itself.

Aerial drone footage has provided viewers a full understanding of just how long – and, in archeological terms, enormous – the fossilized remains of a 180 million-year-old “sea dragon” are on the bottom of the UK reservoir where they were discovered last year.

Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish. That, in a nutshell, is the advice of experts whose new report urges the UK government to make some necessary investment and regulatory moves in UAV activity today in order to avoid missing out on the economic bounties that drone activity of tomorrow will bring.

The UK Department for Transport (DfT) is launching a multimillion-pound initiative to improve local roads across England. Among other things, this program aims to explore the use of drones and 3D printing technology when it comes to finding and fixing potholes.