On 7 and 8 November, Flying Forward 2020 (FF2020) participated in the European Drone Forum (EDF) in Cologne, Germany. During this two-day event, European civil aviation authorities, industry leaders and decision-makers came together to discuss current and upcoming regulations and legislation. FF2020’s consortium partners, Digie, EuroUSC Italia and Tartu Science Park, had the opportunity to discuss the project and meet European experts and authorities.

On the first day of EDF, Natale di Rubbo, Drone Project Manager at the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), presented the new Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) iterations that will be implemented in the coming year and their potential consequences. There was room for debate and other presentations about practical problems and challenges in the Unmanned Aviation field. The specific category for drone operations also garnered attention from stakeholders, particularly the challenges of meeting all regulations.   

The second day of EDF explored the current state of Unmanned Aviation in specific countries, such as Korea, Switzerland, France and Germany. Each presentation provided a learning opportunity from the different approaches of each country.

According to Hillen Oost, who represented Digie at the event, in the end, “The European Drone Forum 2022 underlined the significance and, even more importantly, the willingness of European regulators and operators in the field to work together to develop a healthy, safe and sustainable ecosystem for exploring the societal benefits and innovative applications of Urban Air Mobility. It is also clear that only by working together, all the pieces of the puzzle can eventually fall into place due to the complexity, dynamics and vastness of the ecosystem required for the integration of UAM into manned aviation in the European airspace and into the existing physical reality on the ground.”

Flying Forward 2020 would like to thank Michael Wieland, Manager of UAV DACH’s head office, for organising the European Drone Forum and supporting FF2020’s participation.  

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