Special air highways for drones

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu stated that they have initiated work on an autonomous drone corridor, saying, ‘By implementing one of Europe’s few autonomous drone corridors, we will not only prevent improper flights of UAVs and drones, but also introduce tracking and traffic management systems.’
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu stated that the General Directorate of Civil Aviation continues its efforts to create a special air corridor for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and drones.

‘We will create a safe airspace for drones’
Minister Uraloğlu, mentioning that there are a total of 1,521,615 licensed UAV pilots and 65,859 unmanned aerial vehicles registered with the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, stated that their fundamental goal as the ministry is to ensure safe transportation in every mode, emphasizing, ‘Just as we create specific routes and roads for vehicles on land, planes in the air, and ships at sea, we will establish air corridors and routes for UAVs and drones that have been increasingly used in recent times, enabling them to travel within specified coordinates for intra-city and inter-city flights. In this way, we will create a safe airspace for drones by preventing improper flights.’

‘We are trying to protect the privacy of individuals’
Uraloğlu also pointed out that many countries have begun preparing new regulations regarding unmanned aerial vehicles, stating, ‘We see different types of uses for unmanned aerial vehicles and drones that constitute an important field in civil aviation. The use of drones for military, security, intelligence, agriculture, cargo, customs procedures, combating forest fires, as well as civil and commercial flights is becoming increasingly common. With the new system we will bring with local and national technologies, we aim to prevent improper flights, not to create security vulnerabilities in sensitive areas, and to protect the privacy of individuals. Not only that, with the system we will introduce, operators will be able to access features such as obtaining flight permits and viewing airspace information via mobile applications in an accessible, efficient, and environmentally friendly digital application.’

‘Traffic management and flight permits will be carried out safely’
Expressing the necessity of a control mechanism for UAVs and drones as in all modes of transportation, Uraloğlu stated, ‘Our General Directorate of Civil Aviation is working on new civil aviation models. Our tracking and traffic management system for UAVs will ensure the integration of UAVs into the current airspace. Drone system information, location, altitude, speed, pilot information will be transmitted live to the aviation control center and recorded. Thus, traffic management and flight permits will be carried out quickly, easily, and safely from a single center.’ Minister Uraloğlu also emphasized that they plan to establish repair stations along the routes in case drones face malfunctions, battery depletion, or any unfavorable situation.