Dubai's Drone Registry Nears 5,000 Mark

The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) claims to be world leader in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) oversight, as its registry of commercial, government, and hobbyist drone users approaches the 5,000 mark, Michael Rudolph, head of Airspace Safety Section, DCAA, told an aviation conference in Dubai February 7.

“We have come a long way in a very short period of time,” Rudolph told The Middle East Aviation Conference, organized by international law firm Holman, Fenwick, and Willan. “We came up with a protocol…to register every single drone operator in the Emirate of Dubai. To date, since roll-out in…early 2017, we have registered almost 5,000 [drone users]; we are looking at 4,760 operators.”

The DCAA’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) Registration Service costs $142 for commercial and government users and $33 for professionals, hobbyists, and freelancers. “This service is mandatory [for] all companies and individuals who wish to conduct activities using RPAS,” the DCAA website said. Tourists attempting to bring drones into the country are requested to register at airports with customs.

“[The] Remote Pilot shall be responsible for avoiding collisions with people, objects and other aircraft and shall not harass or endanger people or threaten to damage property,” it said. “The RPAS or drone shall not be operated over congested areas, [and] shall not fly over public or private properties. Operators are responsible for all separations and/or safety protocol when… operating [the] RPAS.”

Dubai issued Law 7 on airspace safety and security in 2015, and Resolution No. 4 in 2017, signed by Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, head of Dubai Executive Council. “As part of that, we have a rigorous media campaign that has advised and told folk that if they acquire this technology, they need to register with the DCAA,” Rudolph said.

On international coordination, DCAA has met with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). “We have had meetings with homeland affairs, with the FAA, and, in fact, they were absolutely astounded at what we are doing, not because of what we have, but because of the fact that we were doing it on a mobile network,” he told AIN.

AIN understands that tracking devices are mandatory on commercial and government drones, while individual owners’ craft are monitored using satellite-based mobile telemetry. The Emirate of Dubai’s boundaries constitute a limited geographical area, of around 4,100 square kilometers (1,590 square miles), making oversight easier to manage than, for example, in the UK or U.S.

“I can say that we are a world leader as [far as] the oversight of this technology is concerned, recognized by the rest of the world,” Rudolph told AIN. “We've had interactions with the FAA, Eurocontrol, and even, most recently, Canada has looked to access the protocols we have put in place, [in order to prevent] the airspace from being compromised.”

Rudolph said a small proportion of drones were used purely for commercial operations, where users derived an income. “That could be anything from terrain surveys, property development, and videography. We have another element we call Dubai Government: that is, for example, the municipality [using] this technology to inspect and monitor installations, either desalination plants, power lines, or a solar power farm... The others are mostly hobbyists.

“The technology [allows the user to] take fantastic video within what we call the default. [This] means that when you fly a drone that you've just bought from one of the retailers, it will not be able to go above 400 feet, and outside 800 meters, the lateral distance from the operator, the internationally recognized defaults. So you'll always be able to see it. If you operate within those parameters, which I think is pretty reasonable, you shouldn't have any incidents.”

Rudolph said that the DCAA had moved into a "second phase" of oversight, in supporting entities studying operating beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). “At the moment, your normal retail [manufacturers] are operating within visual line of sight.

“[In the future,] a drone will be programmed to do maybe vehicular traffic management without having an interface from a human being. In other words, it could be programmed to launch from a specific point, fly up and down an area and monitor traffic, and return to that point once the mission is complete.”

He said that four drone "sightings by the flight deck" in 2015 in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport had led the authorities to take immediate action on drone monitoring to maximize security around the world’s busiest international gateway, which handled 89.1 million passengers in 2018.

Rudolph said that Dubai Road and Transport Authority’s target date for implementation of a regulated air taxi service remained 2022, but did not rule out the idea that market competition could lead to a surprise announcement at Dubai Expo 2020. He said Volocopter GmbH of Bruchsal had already received German Civil Aviation Authority certification for its autonomous air taxi, and that around five other potential competitors exist for the launch of such a service in Dubai.

He added that Boeing and Bell are studying the development of similar autonomous vehicles for Dubai, raising the possibility that a number of start-ups would be edged out of the market. “If I was in the running, if I had a vehicle that had a possibility of getting to market in the next one, three or five years, tell me the next best exhibition, fair, conference...that is going to be bigger...than to say I was at Expo 2020 in Dubai, and my vehicle flew.”