NATS' Hampshire head office the venue for pioneering drone flight simulations

By Giles Gwinnett

15 March 2024

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Fareham-headquartered NATS - the UK's provider of air navigation services - has run pioneering simulations, which showed how drones could be integrated alongside other air traffic at airports.

The work was part of project CAELUS, a UKRI industry collaboration of 16 partners including AGS Airports, University of Strathclyde, NATS and NHS Scotland, which aims to use drones to transport essential medical supplies throughout Scotland.

"We have continued to see some valuable collaboration and innovation across Project CAELUS and this latest work led by NATS truly demonstrates our ambition to forge a new path," said Fiona Smith, AGS Airports Group head of aerodrome strategy and project CAELUS director.

"Our first live flight trial last year was incredibly important and demonstrated a means of integrating drones into an airport environment.

"This year, we look forward to showcasing many more demonstrations including a ramped up flying programme across Scotland and we are delighted to kick start that programme with this exciting NATS showcase."

The latest tests in Hampshire included drone operators filing flight plans, flying in and out of the airport and being safely deconflicted with other aircraft.

Richard Ellis, NATS new airspace users director, said: "Everything we’re doing is striving towards enabling the seamless, safe integration of drones and other new airspace users into our skies.

"There is a lot of work still to do, including the development and approval of new technology and regulations, but I believe what we and our Project CAELUS partners are doing will help support that process and is taking us a step closer to an exciting future."

Project Caelus is a Future Flight Challenge programme jointly funded by UK Research and Innovation. Further test flights are planned for later in 2024.

NATS handles more than 2.5 million flights every year and 250 million passengers travelling in UK airspace.

By Giles Gwinnett

Giles Gwinnett is a writer at The Business Magazine. He has been a journalist for more than 20 years and covered a vast array of topics at a range of media settings - in print and online. After his NCTJ newspaper training, he became a reporter in Hampshire before moving to a news agency in Gloucestershire. In recent years, he has been covering the financial markets along with company news for an investor-focused web portal. His many interests include politics, energy and the environment. He lives in Dorset.