Britain is on track to have the largest automated drone superhighway in the next two years.
The drone project is part of a US$327.9 million aerospace funding package linking towns and cities across the Midlands with the south-east of the country, with the option of expanding the corridor to any other locations in the country.
The project, unveiled by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday seeks to “help the sector seize on the enormous opportunities for growth that exist as the world transitions to cleaner forms of flight.”
The new transport capacity will be delivered by a consortium led by Reading-based UTM (Unified Traffic Management) solution provider, Altitude Angel, alongside BT, providing expertise and connectivity across its mobile network, EE and a number of UK technology start-ups.
The project include a plan to use drones to regularly deliver mail and medicines to the Isles of Scilly and distribute medicines across Scotland.
According to Dave Pankhurst, BT’s Director of Drones, Skyway is about expanding existing routes in the U.K. Skyway aims to connect airspace across Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry and Rugby by mid-2024 and will receive more than US$14m.
“This drone capability has existed for quite some time, but is in its infancy in terms of being actually part of our society and being a usable application. So for us, this is about taking a significant step towards that point. It’s going to open up so many opportunities,” Pankhurst said.
The sources for this piece include an article in BBC.
