News / Tingwall to Norway drone flight given green light in UK first
A DRONE company has been given permission to fly one of its drones from Tingwall Airport to Norway in a first for the UK.
Windracers has received approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to fly its dual-use heavy lift drone from Tingwall to Haugesund Airport in Norway, which will be the UK’s first civil unmanned aerial system (UAS) international flight.
It is the first time a long-distance drone has been approved to fly for civil purposes between UK airspace into the airspace of another country.
The approval was enabled by the creation of temporary danger areas, providing a controlled corridor to facilitate the flight.
The flight will cover a distance of 235 miles between Shetland and Norway.
Windracers’ ULTRA drone will make the journey, a dual-use drone which is capable of transport a “useful payload” of up to 150kg and with a range of up to 1,000km.
The company’s chief executive Simon Muderack called this a “major landmark” for both Windracers and the drone industry.
“Windracers ULTRA is already flying real-world missions today. We can now prove those capabilities across international airspace – opening new possibilities for how we connect remote communities and deliver essential services,” he said.
“Many assume the autonomous air cargo industry is still years away, something in the future. Windracers, with the support of the UK and Norway CAAs, is affirming that it is here today.”
Plans for the first drone flight between mainland Shetland and Orkney were scuppered last Friday due to the weather.
However Windracers took the opportunity to continue to test its ULTRA unmanned aircraft in the skies around Tingwall Airport.
Windracers has previously carried out flights in Shetland, as well as between Fair Isle and Orkney.
It says it has a focus on cargo delivery – “the ability to move goods more quickly across the islands”.
The CAA’s approval process for the Shetland to Norway flight focused on how to overcome a range of challenges, including safety, liability, international obligations and environmental mitigations around the planned flight.
CAA head of airspace Jon Round said their airspace regulation team had “rose to the challenge” to ensure the flight could go ahead safely.
“Innovation isn’t always about new technology or future frameworks – it can also mean reimagining how current systems can be applied,” he said.
“We’re proud to have helped make this possible, showing that we are an enabling regulator.”
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