COVID-19 Seen Boosting Drones Worldwide

COVID-19 focused worldwide attention on drones, speakers said during an Akin Gump webinar Wednesday. The pandemic “created an environment … we have not seen before,” said Ruby Sayyed, International Air Transport Association acting director air-transport movement infrastructure. The need for remote access to facilities for security, inspection or disinfection “increased because of the pandemic,” but safety is critical for the public to accept more use of drones, she said. “When we look at integrating drones into the supply chain, it’s going to take more than just technologies to enable that and to make that scalable to different locations and regions,” Sayyed said. Mark Wuennenberg, Drone Delivery Canada vice president-regulatory affairs, said his company trialed delivery of supplies to a remote first-nation community on an island. The normal mode of delivery is by helicopter with a cost of $1,300 hourly, he said. Drones can reduce that 80-90%, he said. The island community’s goal is to have zero COVID-19 cases because of limited healthcare services, Wuennenberg said. “They can very quickly become overwhelmed and the best method to address the threat is simply not have contact” with outsiders, he said. The company wants to enter the U.S. market and is seeking more harmonization with rules here, he said. “That will do wonders for the U.S. industry.” Building trust with government is important to getting regulations right, Wuennenberg said, noting Canada has been looking at drone rules for six years. “It was important to start early so we understood the box in which we were operating,” he said. Since March, Kenya-based Astral Aviation has been delivering COVID supplies to 26 countries in Africa using manned flights, said CEO Sanjeev Gadhia. Africa is made up of 54 countries, which is a challenge, he said. The “good news” is that after a three-year process, Kenya has rules, which are being harmonized with other nations in East Africa, he said. Drones are being used in Africa for broadcasting the importance of social distancing and spraying hot spots, he said. Once vaccines are developed, a challenge will be getting them everywhere, especially since they have limited shelf life, Gadhia said. Drones can help with last-mile delivery, he said: “We believe Africa is the perfect testing ground. This is the place where we have the worst infrastructure and a lot of challenges with accessibility and connectivity.”