17 Oct UK CAA announces new policy on Atypical Air Environments

Posted at 13:46h in News by

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has featured sees.ai in a recent press release, announcing its new policy on Atypical Air Environments (AEE). 

The Atypical Air Environments Policy

The definition of an AAE has been shaped by a recent consultation, It can be defined as a volume of airspace with less air traffic, due to its proximity to existing infrastructure – such as power lines, wind turbines, rail, roads, and buildings. This makes AAE a facilitator for high-value drone use cases in the infrastructure sector: 

  • Close inspections of power lines and pylon steelwork
  • Maintenance checks on offshore wind turbines 
  • Rapid response deployment for site security

This announcement follows the release of the CAA’s most recent roadmap, which lays out a regulatory pathway to scaled BVLOS operations in the UK by 2027. The AAE policy was one of CAA’s ‘‘four pillars’: four key mechanisms that will overcome existing regulatory barriers. With the release of this AAE policy concept, the CAA has taken a huge step along the path to its 2027 goal.

sees.ai and AAE Policy

sees.ai features in the press release announcing the new policy. Our CEO John McKenna gave his comment on this significant step forward for UK drone operations, alongside our long-term partners at National Grid, and Sophie O’Sullivan (Director of Future of Flight, UK CAA).

Kathryn Fairhurst, Overhead Line Operations Director at National Grid said:

“We’re delighted that our work with sees.ai has helped the UK Civil Aviation Authority to develop this groundbreaking policy further. AAE is significant progress on the way to deploying these technologies at scale, ensuring that they complement our existing tools and processes.”

As the rules develop, the CAA will continue to work with operators to evaluate policy and develop it further. We are excited to see these developments, and welcome this bold step towards safe BVLOS flight, at scale, across our critical national infrastructure. 

As our CEO, John McKenna said:

“AAE is a big step towards routine BVLOS operations in public airspace. We applaud the UK Civil Aviation Authority for recognising this opportunity and diligently shaping this policy … This pioneering initiative will undoubtedly draw the attention of regulators, operators and customers worldwide, setting a precedent for future developments in this exciting field.”