23% growth in 10 months

19.3 thousand drones registered in the country by the end of October

The registration of drones has seen a significant increase in recent years.

Photography: Ahmed Ardeti

The General Authority of Civil Aviation revealed that the number of drones registered in the country amounted to 19,324 aircraft at the end of last October, compared to 15,666 aircraft at the end of 2020, an increase of 3658 aircraft, equivalent to a growth of more than 23.3% within 10 months.

In an official response to Emirates Today, the authority stated that the number of companies operating drones in the country reached 170, explaining that amateur aircraft acquired the largest share of drones, amounting to 18,522 aircraft, with a rate of 95.8 % of the total number of drones registered in the country, while the number of drones registered for professional use reached 802, accounting for 4.2% of the total registered aircraft.

noticeable increase

The authority stated that the registration of drones has witnessed a noticeable increase in recent years, which indicates the effectiveness of the regulations and legislation of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, in addition to the way this system is structured, which aims to embrace drone technology to suit the desires of amateurs to practice their hobbies, and encourage them to do so within The framework of good practice, and avoiding random practices by activating the interactive map that includes new tourist areas, and providing it through the smart application (My drone Hub).

Artificial intelligence

The authority explained that drone technology is an emerging technology that is rapidly developing at the global and local levels, as artificial intelligence technology is used in some of them, which enables it to autonomously perform the tasks assigned to it completely without human intervention.

"Civil Aviation" drew attention to its role in developing proactive and flexible legislation and laws to keep pace with and encourage this development of this technology, so that the UAE is one of the first global countries to create an incubator environment for this type of technology in all areas related to academic studies and other practical fields, such as auditing, traffic analysis and examination Oil and gas pipelines in petroleum installations, infrastructure projects and order delivery.

Continuous regulation

The General Authority of Civil Aviation confirmed that it updates systems and legislation periodically and continuously, to be always proactive, flexible and forward-looking, in line with government directives.

And it indicated that it is constantly regulating the sector, through a comprehensive system that starts from the manufacture of the aircraft and its identification with a serial number, up to the end user through the entrances and borders of the UAE, where the owner of the aircraft knows, since its manufacture, whether he is an individual, supplier, distributor or point of sale.

The authority indicated the availability of all amateur drone services in the (my drone hub) application, from registration to the interactive map through which it identifies the areas in which it is allowed to fly.

keeping up

And whether the sector needs more regulation processes in the future, the authority stated that with the increase in the number of users of drones around the world, specifically in the UAE, the General Civil Aviation Authority is constantly working on updating and developing this system, to keep pace with the development of aircraft technology. Drones, and the increasing numbers of them to be compatible with the movement of civil aircraft, by regulating the movement of unmanned aircraft by defining the flight areas effectively and periodically, in cooperation with strategic partners, to organize all flight operations in the airspace of the country.

to update

The General Authority of Civil Aviation stated that it periodically and continuously updates the map of private drones for amateur use in areas that do not constitute a conflict with air safety, noting that users of the (my drone hub) application receive notifications of the latest updates.

• 170 companies operating drones in the country.

• Amateur aircrafts account for 95.8% of the total registered drones

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