Irish drone operators have called on the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to immediately withdraw its restrictions over Cork airspace.
The IAA has introduced new temporary measures that will significantly limit drone pilots and enthusiasts from flying over large parts of the city without providing two days’ notice.
The measures were enacted to facilitate the entry of a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operator to Cork City, with Drone Professionals Ireland (DPI) calling the restrictions “fundamentally unfair.”
From February 14, the IAA will temporarily enact a no-fly zone covering Douglas, Cork city centre, the Docklands, Mayfield, and Ballyvolane, between 8 am and 10 pm.
The new measures mean that drone operators will need to request permission from Cork air traffic control at least two days in advance of flying.
The restrictions coming into place specifically target those without a BVLOS license, which is why the majority of drone users are set to be impacted.
BVLOS is when one pilot flies multiple drones at one time, operating them simultaneously without maintaining direct visual contact with them. These licenses are very rare in Ireland, with only a handful of companies holding one. This differs significantly from Visual line of Sight (VLOS) operators, where one pilot flies one drone, keeping it in direct sight at all times.
Speaking on the measures, DPI said: “These new measures affect the vast majority of drone operators in Ireland’s second largest city, giving BVLOS operators preferential access to the airspace without the same advance notice requirement.”
“The new restrictions are not being introduced to address any existing safety concern; they are being introduced solely to accommodate a new type of operation.”
Currently, Cork has no BVLOS operators, but the IAA expects this to change with the new measures.
Earlier this week, the IAA confirmed to the that Dublin-based drone delivery firm Manna had requested permission to fly in Cork airspace.
The IAA said that AirNav Ireland entered discussions with Manna to establish operational procedures to allow for this BVLOS operation. It is understood that these discussions involved a request for a memorandum of understanding between Manna and AirNav.
“No BVLOS operator currently operates in Cork,” DPI said.
“Existing professional operators, who have been operating safely in this airspace for years, are now being restricted to accommodate operations that do not yet exist.”
“The burden of these changes falls entirely on one group to facilitate another. The practical impact of a mandatory 48-hour coordination process cannot be understated, professional operators regularly undertake time-sensitive work including insurance assessments, infrastructure inspections, emergency callouts, and media assignments that simply cannot wait two days for airspace approval.”
In a statement to the Irish Examiner, the IAA added that there would be no change to how “blue light” emergency services access Cork City airspace.
“Emergency services will continue to have absolute priority, and all non-emergency drone activity will be paused immediately whenever required to ensure safe access.”
However, it is not yet certain which organisations the IAA classify as emergency services, with fears that some will not be able to use their drones when needed.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner earlier this week, Christy O’Donovan of Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery said: “We rely very heavily on drones for our operations.”
“We use drones now in every single search mission that we conduct. They have been a game-changer for us. What used to take us an hour-and-a-half searching on the ground can now be cleared in just over two minutes using a drone.”
Mr O’Donovan said the drones were critical when searching large green area, as well as rivers, especially at night.
DPI said there is currently no published mechanism for identifying which drone operators are engaged in blue light activities, no documented procedure for ensuring the immediate cessation of all other activity when a blue light drone operation commences, and no pathway for a search and rescue drone operator to gain immediate airspace access in an emergency when the standard process requires 48 hours’ advance coordination.
“Without documented procedures, the IAA’s assurance amounts to a commitment with no mechanism for delivery,” DPI noted.
Founded in 2018, Manna, led by Bobby Healy, has expanded significantly in Dublin, marking its 250,000th delivery last year.
Support for the company remains mixed. While many customers and local businesses have supported their operations, many other residents have objected to Manna’s operations, complaining of privacy intrusion and noise.
Speaking on the IAA’s measures, Barry Whyte, chairman of DPI said: “No single commercial operation should receive preferential treatment over another. What we are seeing in Cork is the airspace rights of an entire industry being curtailed to facilitate the commercial ambitions of one company.”
“It is unreasonable to hold existing VLOS operators responsible for risks created by a policy decision they had no part in making,” Mr Whyte continued.
“If the current system cannot safely accommodate BVLOS without restricting everyone else, then BVLOS should not be introduced until the proper infrastructure is in place to support it.”
Currently, the IAA’s measures are temporary. They will come into effect on February 14 and remain in place until May. However, the IAA said it proposes to make these restrictions permanent from May onwards.
The IAA is conducting a targeted consultation of airspace users on its proposal to make the measures permanent in Cork City.
It is understood that Cork City Council is carefully considering the IAA’s proposal.
