Australia to build air traffic control system ahead of an influx of unmanned aircraft

Australia is seeking to expand its air traffic control system in view of a possible influx of unmanned aircraft as well as flying taxis over the next decade.

Traffic management company Frequentis Australiasia has been appointed to create a “digital air traffic management to safely integrate millions of uncrewed aircraft flights into Australia’s busy airspace” by the country’s airspace managing agency Airservice Australia.

Initially, it was believed that uncrewed aircraft would be highly automated leading to the perception that they would interfere with the operations of commercial flights.

However, Airservices Australia’s Luke Gumley said that drone management systems need to be integrated with broader air traffic operations to prevent any untowardly incident such as crashes.

“Currently, drones generally don’t operate where crewed aircraft do, but in time we know we’ll have to integrate the two, with airspace being finite, and congestion around urban environments,” Gumley told The Guardian.

What’s the future of Australian aviation?

An analysis by Airservice Australia shows that the country will witness a surge in the number of drone flights to as much as 60 million unmanned aerial vehicles by 2043. These will include delivery drones, air taxis and other pilotless operations.

Currently, there are about 1.5 million drone flights each year.