„Clearing Obstacles to Commercial UAS Operations in Europe“ is crucial for the companies organized in the Application Group „Line Inspection“ at UAV DACH – Association for Unmanned Aviation. There is an apparent demand for using UAS in the entire linear infrastructure sector to enhance efficiency and precision and to open up a vast potential for carbon reduction. However, significant challenges remain, as demonstrated by a Thyssengas project, where current regulation resulted in less than 70% coverage by UAS, necessitating a return to helicopter inspections.

Pipeline inspections are recurring tasks with fixed locations, enabling economical drone flight setups as they are reusable. UAS can significantly improve infrastructure operators’ safety, efficiency, and environmental compatibility. At the same time, the industry can tap into a substantial market for drone service providers – as long as regulatory support is provided.

„Monitoring critical infrastructures serves public safety and therefore requires extended permits.”
(Product manager UAS-based network inspections @ Thyssengas)

Dirk Schmidt has been a specialist in drone inspection and geo-AI at Thyssengas GmbH in Dortmund since 2020 and is currently the spokesperson for the UAV DACH Application Group „Line Inspection“. In his presentation „Against all odds: We need opportunities to inspect linear infrastructure with UAS“ at the EUROPEAN DRONE FORUM, he will highlight the specific demands of the infrastructure sector for regulatory authorities and drone service providers.

The 2025 edition of the EUROPEAN DRONE FORUM on 17-18 February will be the first to take place in Düsseldorf – embedded into the world premiere of the XPONENTIAL Europe. Together, we will identify the main obstacles for the UAS industry and discuss how these can be cleared. Fully in line with the theme of the EUROPEAN DRONE FORUM 2025: „Shaping the future: Clearing obstacles to commercial UAS operations in Europe”

Discover the full program here: https://lnkd.in/e2Frf7uN