NATS and Altitude Angel bring drone approval service to Southampton Airport

Drone operators looking to fly in the airspace around Southampton Airport could now be cleared for take-off within minutes.

The services division of NATS, the Fareham-based air traffic control provider, has now deployed its digital flight approval programme at the airport following a debut in Aberdeen last month.

Previously, non-commercial drone pilots would face waits of 14 days or more for their applications to be processed.

NATS says this development marks “an important step towards delivering a fully integrated airspace”.

Richard Ellis, new airspace users director at NATS Services, added: “We want to support the growth of the UK drone industry, and this second deployment is part of our plan for an ecosystem that can deliver certainty for drone operators.

“Deploying a digital flight approval service allows us to do just that, while ensuring our controllers maintain situational awareness of what is operating in the airspace around them.”

The service was developed in collaboration with Reading-based Altitude Angel.

Chris Forster, chief operating officer at Altitude Angel, said: “As more airports are added to the network, we’re able to provide safe and seamless access to airspace, enabling more businesses and public services to benefit from drone operations.”