11-29-2019, 08:00 AM
DW1 update: 29/11/2019
Via the Oz:
CASA drone registration plan held up by fee fight
ROBYN IRONSIDE
Follow @ironsider
12:00AM NOVEMBER 29, 2019
Plans to register all commercial and recreational drones in Australia have been delayed due to disagreement over an appropriate fee.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority confirmed plans for commercial drone registration had been pushed back to mid-2020 while a recreational drones register was not expected to be established until 2022.
The issue with recreational drones related to the sheer numbers of the devices, believed to be as high as 200,000.
But fees were the sticking point in regards to commercial drone registration, with CASA proposing an annual fee of between $120 and $160 per drone.
The charge was considered necessary for “cost recovery” in relation to the registration scheme but drone operators were opposed to paying a significant fee when currently none existed.
A consultation paper published by CASA acknowledged that “only a small section of respondents agreed with charging a registration fee” and “most did not see any benefit or return on investment to paying a fee”.
Australian Association for Unmanned Systems executive director Greg Tyrrell said fees should be low enough to ensure 100 per cent participation rate in the registration scheme.
“If they’re really looking at this for safety, then participation should be the main concern,” Mr Tyrrell said.
He was encouraged by the establishment of an expert advisory panel on the issue, and remained confident a good outcome could be reached.
There are currently 1628 certified commercial drone operators in Australia, and another 7000 drones of less than 2kg being used for commercial purposes.
Once the commercial drone registration scheme had been finalised, CASA was expected to tackle the matter of a recreational drone registration fee, previously proposed at $20.
The reason for registration was to help better monitor drone operations and easily identify “rogue” operators by the remotely piloted system’s serial number.
In the last year, CASA received almost 3000 complaints related to drones.
As debate rages over fees, CASA, Airservices Australia and the Department of Defence have pushed ahead with “drone detection systems” at sensitive sites such as airports.
In a speech to the Australian Airports Association conference on the Gold Coast this month, Airservices’ executive general manager of aviation rescue Michelle Bennetts revealed the detection systems were being installed and commissioned at 29 airports with air traffic control.
“Given this scale, we believe this is a world-first operation that provides a national drone-detection capability across the country,” Ms Bennetts said.
“This will allow active monitoring of drones and see us refine protocols in response to a drone detection, in collaboration with the regulator, the airports and law enforcement.”
MTF...P2
Via the Oz:
CASA drone registration plan held up by fee fight
ROBYN IRONSIDE
Follow @ironsider
12:00AM NOVEMBER 29, 2019
Plans to register all commercial and recreational drones in Australia have been delayed due to disagreement over an appropriate fee.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority confirmed plans for commercial drone registration had been pushed back to mid-2020 while a recreational drones register was not expected to be established until 2022.
The issue with recreational drones related to the sheer numbers of the devices, believed to be as high as 200,000.
But fees were the sticking point in regards to commercial drone registration, with CASA proposing an annual fee of between $120 and $160 per drone.
The charge was considered necessary for “cost recovery” in relation to the registration scheme but drone operators were opposed to paying a significant fee when currently none existed.
A consultation paper published by CASA acknowledged that “only a small section of respondents agreed with charging a registration fee” and “most did not see any benefit or return on investment to paying a fee”.
Australian Association for Unmanned Systems executive director Greg Tyrrell said fees should be low enough to ensure 100 per cent participation rate in the registration scheme.
“If they’re really looking at this for safety, then participation should be the main concern,” Mr Tyrrell said.
He was encouraged by the establishment of an expert advisory panel on the issue, and remained confident a good outcome could be reached.
There are currently 1628 certified commercial drone operators in Australia, and another 7000 drones of less than 2kg being used for commercial purposes.
Once the commercial drone registration scheme had been finalised, CASA was expected to tackle the matter of a recreational drone registration fee, previously proposed at $20.
The reason for registration was to help better monitor drone operations and easily identify “rogue” operators by the remotely piloted system’s serial number.
In the last year, CASA received almost 3000 complaints related to drones.
As debate rages over fees, CASA, Airservices Australia and the Department of Defence have pushed ahead with “drone detection systems” at sensitive sites such as airports.
In a speech to the Australian Airports Association conference on the Gold Coast this month, Airservices’ executive general manager of aviation rescue Michelle Bennetts revealed the detection systems were being installed and commissioned at 29 airports with air traffic control.
“Given this scale, we believe this is a world-first operation that provides a national drone-detection capability across the country,” Ms Bennetts said.
“This will allow active monitoring of drones and see us refine protocols in response to a drone detection, in collaboration with the regulator, the airports and law enforcement.”
MTF...P2