UAE to be among first to regulate drone use

The UAE will be one of the first countries to regulate unmanned aerial vehicles – including leisure drones, according to one of its General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Directors, reports Barbara Saunders
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Addressing the Future Air Transportation Systems conference in Dubai, Mohammad Faisal Al Dossari (pictured left), Director, Aviation Safety Affairs, Air Navigation & Aerodrome, UAE GCAA, said the authority is well advanced with the first steps towards regulation and an all-inclusive stakeholder consultative process would begin soon.
“Our challenge is to regulate the commercial side first and then the leisure side whether people operate as clubs or are private users who view them a toys – we even want to regulate these activities. We anticipate a length consultative phase to think about the processes needed to obtain necessary approvals and the guidelines that need to apply. At some point we also have to develop the implementation plan. We are even going to regulate unmanned systems that are less than one kilogramme,” he said.
Mr Al Dossari said a number of stakeholders will be involved in the process. “The GCAA cannot do it by itself. We need input from bodies such as the Ministry of Interior and other government stakeholders.”
Al Dossari said in drawing up regulations, the GCAA was focussing on four key issues – safety, security, the environment and efficiency.
“We already have a complex aerospace scenario here and we are introducing new systems into this equation so all these considerations will be the drivers behind the new regulations,” he said.
“We are going to make the whole process very consultative and will regulate the systems based on weight and by operator types, including clubs and private users, to ensure control of our airspace.”
Al Dossari said the consultative phase would begin imminently and that he expects it to last at least six months. “As long as it takes,” he said.
This summer the consultations will be reviewed. “Once we have taken everything into consideration we may go back for a second consultative phase,” he explained. “We will also decide on an implementation phase but the regulatory framework will be decided this year for definite and I anticipate the implementation coming into effect around January 2016. This will put us among the first countries in the world to have such regulations.
“We have been working on this already for two years and involving all our stakeholders based on best in class practices.”
Al Dossari said a public roll out of the regulations and implementation phase would be needed to educate users and would involve seminars, workshops, media coverage and input from the full stakeholder value chain.
Douglas Raaberg, CEO UAE for Northrop Grumman, described the need for UAV regulatory control as “the challenge of the future” for a “new realm” with the technology certain to “migrate into the commercial sector.” He said a balanced approach involving all users, airlines and regulators could deliver a “new gold standard.”

Last year the UAE announced plans to launch a fly-by courier service that uses eyeball-scanning unmanned aerial vehicles to drop off government documents. "We want to reach people before they reach us. We want to save time, to shorten distances, to increase effectiveness and to make services easier," said HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.