Airservices Australia is preparing for more than 60 million drones to operate in Australian airspace within the next 20 years.
The government body responsible for managing the country’s air traffic has announced the first round of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) service suppliers to connect to the new Flight Information Management System (FIMS).
Airservices Australia Head of Transformation Uncrewed Services Integration Luke Gumley said FIMS was a data-sharing platform that would enable drones and other uncrewed aircraft to be seamlessly incorporated into Australian airspace.
Mr Gurnley said it would be at the core of Australia’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) ecosystem, enabling Airservices to share flight information between air traffic control, traditional aircraft, and uncrewed airspace users.
“With over 60 million drones predicted to be utilising Australian airspace by 2043, delivering the UTM ecosystem through cross government and industry collaboration will ensure a safe, efficient and harmonised airspace for both uncrewed and conventional aircraft,” he said.
Mr Gurnley said in the lead up to FIMS going live in late 2025, the partnerships with the service suppliers would play a critical role in collectively delivering cutting edge, digital UTM solutions for drone operators as industry providers integrate their platforms with FIMS.
“The forward leaning policy and regulatory frameworks, coupled with the collaboration between Airservices and industry in delivering open market UTM services connected to FIMS, positions Australia as a leader in enabling safe and sustainable growth of the drone and emerging aviation industries.”
He said Australian owned and operated AvSoft and Yarra Drones, along with United States-based OneSky, had been selected to participate in the first round of technical integration with FIMS.
