60 million drone flights by 2043

Over the past five years, the drone industry in Australia and globally has matured rapidly, fueled by technological advancements and innovative use cases. This surge is driving widespread drone adoption across the country. To guide the development of Australia’s uncrewed aircraft systems traffic management (UTM) ecosystem, including the Flight Information Management System (FIMS), Airservices Australia partnered with Scyne Advisory to analyse the growth of drones and advanced air mobility (including air taxis). The report predicts that:

• Commercial drone flights will increase by an average of 20% per annum over the next 20 years, and

• 60 million flights are expected by 2043.

Fifty million flights (77% of total flights in 2043) will be in the transport and logistics industry. Growth will be focused in densely populated areas, driving the need for an operational UTM to maintain safe and equitable access to shared airspace.

Now is the time for collaboration across government and industry to develop, test and introduce the right regulatory frameworks and operational systems to foster continued safe growth of the market in increasingly busy airspace.