The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) reports that in March 2021, the number of coordinated drone missions in the PansaUTM system amounted to 1,497. A mission can comprise more than one flight. Of this total, 65 mission were beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).
The total number of “check-ins” in the DroneRadar application for March this year was just over 34,000, showing a gradual rise in demand for drone operations in Poland. “From January 1 to March 31 this year the number of coordinated missions in the PansaUTM system was 3,725, while the total number of check-ins in the DroneRadar application for February this year is over 83,000,” according to PANSA figures
The PansaUTM system was implemented on March 2, 2020 and is the basis for the development of the U-Space concept in Poland. It is one of the very few U-space systems in Europe based on digital UAV flight coordination and digital management of applications and permits for drone flights. PansaUTM consists of PANSA’s proprietary operational solutions integrated with the Droneradar mobile application. This system allows for fast, digital, non-verbal communication between air traffic controllers and drone operators. In February 2021, version 1.2 of the system became operational which included new functionalities such as:
- An OVERDUE function – where the UAV pilot receives information about the check-in deadline accepted by the TWR controller, reducing the probability of illegal flights;
- An automatic capacity management function for air traffic services regulating the operation of automatic approvals in controlled zones of airports;
- A function that shortens the flight planning time for emergency services and law enforcement services, also in the fight against COVID-19;
- The SuperPilot function which shortens the flight planning time for the most frequently flying UAV operators and pilots and enables automatic approvals (depending on the place and time of the flight).
