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Australia commences building of air traffic control system for uncrewed flights

CANBERRA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has commenced the building of an air traffic control system for drones ahead of an expected surge in uncrewed flights.

Government agency Airservices Australia on Monday announced that it has appointed the Australasian branch of international air traffic control company Frequentis to develop a world-leading Flight Information Management System (FIMS) to safely integrate millions of drone flights into the country's airspace.

According to an analysis commissioned by Airservices Australia, the number of uncrewed flights in Australian airspace will surge from 1.5 million per year currently to more than 60 million by 2043, including drones and air taxis.

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"Drones are the biggest growth area in aviation and our partnership with Frequentis to develop a FIMS will enable us to integrate traditional and new airspace users into increasingly busy airspace," Jason Harfield, chief executive of Airservices Australia, said in a statement.

"We will develop a FIMS that meets the needs of Australian airspace users and ensures we can safely integrate millions of drone flights with other users. I'm confident the new FIMS will encourage the growing drone market to reach its full potential in Australia."

The FIMS will be at the core of Australia's Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Traffic Management ecosystem, which will enable the sharing of information between air traffic control, crewed and uncrewed aircraft.

In an interview with the Guardian Australia, the local online version of the British daily newspaper, Airservices Australia's Luke Gumley said the agency was expecting the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane to be a catalyst event for air taxis in Australia.

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