AirShare has noted a decrease in the number of drone flights in controlled and uncontrolled airspace logged in its New Zealand-wide system, for the quarter to 30 June, attributing this fall to the cooler and rainier autumn and winter months. 11,486 flights in uncontrolled airspace were logged along with 7,353 flights in controlled airspace. Aerial filming remains the most popular purpose for drone operations with 13,232 flights.
There has however been an increase in the number of digital activation requests (3,482 for the quarter), with digital activation now available for all New Zealand control zones. Digital activation enables drone operators to request authorisation to fly their drones within control zones via AirShare, rather than having to call the control tower. For all provisionally authorised flights, digital activation can be requested within 30 minutes of the filed flight start time.
During this second quarter, 3,428 new AirShare registrations were recorded.
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