The increased focus on ecommerce during the pandemic has led to a renewal of interest in unmanned deliveries and Dubai is all set to create a commercial drone network, with an air traffic control system, runways and miniature airports/helipads across the emirate. On Saturday, 4th July, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum issued a new law regulating the use of drones, a step forward in connecting the city’s buildings via the Dubai Sky Dome project.
The new law covers the manufacture, import, sale, circulation, registration, use and possession of drones. It will help grant immediate government permits and no-objection certificates to both public and private entities in the future to provide transportation via flying taxis and drone delivery services for goods and freight. It will help create a framework for licensing and inspection of drone systems as well as a legal system to investigate any incidents.
Speaking about the new law, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said it would transform the emirate into one of the world’s main cities “shaping the future of civil aviation.” He also said, “The new law supports the implementation of the DCAA’s Dubai Sky Dome initiative, which seeks to build a structural eco-system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In cooperation with the General Secretariat of The Executive Council of Dubai, the initiative has created a detailed drone systems policy.”
He further said that drone systems “represent one of the most promising emerging technologies in the civil aviation and transport sector.”
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Director of Aviation Security and Dangerous Goods at the DCAA, Obaid Saif Al Nuaimi highlighted how the project’s Dubai Shield system would be used to “detect and track drones and take necessary counter measures in cooperation with relevant government and security authorities.”