ASL Future Flight gains cargo drone certification

ASL Future Flight has been awarded a Light UAS Aircraft Systems Operator Certificate (LUC) by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).

The LUC offers the possibility to start commercial drone operations without an operational authorisation from the IAA such as the delivery of light cargo over a short range.

“It will be used by ASL Future Flight to train and gain experience on drone operations before moving on to heavier and longer-range operations,” the ASL Airlines Ireland-owned company said.

“ASL Future Flight will begin training and flight testing while considering plans for unmanned flight using larger drones. These will require a Certified Category Authorisation very similar to an airline Air Operators Certificate.”

ASL Future Flight’s LUC allows for operations under PDRA-S01, which authorises flights by a drone less than 3 m in diameter with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 25 kg.

Operations under PDRA-S01 include short-range cargo operations which would typically allow the delivery of small packages up to about 5Kgs.

This is a first step in future-proofing ASL’s capabilities to meet the operational requirements of new unmanned flight technologies and licencing.

“Cargo will play a key role in the development of new flight technologies”, said ASL Airlines Ireland managing director, John Rawl. “This LUC shows ASL’s commitment to be ready, willing and able as unmanned aircraft become larger and capable of operating over wider networks delivering cargo up to 500 kgs or more.”