A first in Canada for unmanned aviation
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The Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (CCUVS) announced July 24, 2014 that it has received the necessary approvals to manage a permanent area of Restricted Airspace in Southeast Alberta that is being created for the purpose of flying Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
This airspace designation is the first of its kind in Canada and will be available for UAS training, research and development for civil and commercial purposes. The airspace is particularly attractive for companies that wish to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) a capacity that opens up significant commercial opportunities. It is anticipated that flight operations could commence as early as the end of 2014
The Restricted Airspace results from more than six years work by the CCUVS in the partnership with the Village of Foremost, Alberta. With 750 square nautical miles of airspace designated up to 18,000 feet above sea level, Transport Canada and NAV Canada are now in the stages of writing up a Memorandum of Understanding to allow the necessary access to this airspace. The announcement is most certianly welcomed by the global UAS industry.
“This is a historic initiative, and a wonderful opportunity for the Canadian and International UAS operators to have a unique location to safely train, study and further develop technology in the UAS industry”