Hong Kong drone sector aims to take flight despite show cancellations
Industry players say city needs more flight data to advance sector amid cancellation of two National Day drone events
Hong Kong’s drone operators remain upbeat about the “low-altitude economy” despite recent cancellations of displays because of atmospheric conditions, saying the industry has enough measures to ensure the safety of unmanned logistics or passenger aircraft.
But industry insiders also said Hong Kong needed to generate more flight data to advance the sector’s development.
An operator revealed that his team was developing a safety index for the sector, which would include weather and meteorological conditions for drone operations at specific times and locations.
The “low-altitude economy” generally refers to activities within airspace below 1,000 metres [3,281 feet], including goods delivery by drones or passenger flights on electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
Two drone shows planned for September 30 and October 1 in Hong Kong to celebrate National Day were cancelled because GPS signals were disrupted by ionospheric scintillation, a phenomenon mainly caused by a solar storm.
Meanwhile, displays on October 1 and 2 in the neighbouring technology hub of Shenzhen were delayed or reduced in size for the same reason.
