UK CAA Awards Grant For BVLOS Drone Ops Research

Flight trials will explore Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations in shared airspace.

Mark Phelps

Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 10:16 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: Omar Filipović

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Key Takeaways:

The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has funded a consortium to demonstrate operational support for overlapping Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations in shared airspace.
The project, involving participants like ANRA Technologies, Lancashire Fire and Rescue, Manna, and Wing, will conduct live trials in Lancashire, U.K.
Its primary aim is to validate interoperability, governance frameworks, and cooperative operating principles for safely managing commercial and emergency service drone operations.
The findings from these trials will help inform the UK's Future of Flight Programme and future airspace policy and regulation.

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The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has awarded a grant to a consortium of providers to prepare an operational demonstration of service-provider support for overlapping Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations in shared airspace. Participants include the Airspace Modernisation Fund (coordinating), ANRA Technologies U.K., Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Manna Drone Delivery, and Wing.

The consortium aims to leverage experience from ongoing U.S. UAS Traffic Management operations and implementation. Live trials will be conducted in Lancashire, U.K. “The work will validate interoperability, governance frameworks, and cooperative operating principles for safely managing commercial and emergency service drone operations in shared airspace,” according to the CAA.

Stuart Lindsey, head of airspace modernization for the CAA, said, “The Airspace Modernisation Support Fund exists to accelerate practical innovation and research that benefits the wider aviation community. This project exemplifies that intent by enabling the operational evaluation of live, multi-stakeholder BVLOS operations that will help inform the UK’s Future of Flight Programme, as well as the next stages of UK airspace policy and regulation.”