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Setting out the Government’s vision for how drones can be better integrated into the transport system to develop a thriving, innovative and safe drone sector in New Zealand.
Te whakatakoto i tā te Kāwanatanga whāinga mō te pāhekoheko i ngā matatopa ki ngā kaupapa waka e hua mai ai tētahi pūnaha waka tōnui, auaha, haumaru anō hoki i Aotearoa.
In collaboration with other government departments, we have published ‘Taking flight: an aviation system for the automated age’. This paper sets out the Government’s vision, high-level objectives and the fundamental building blocks that will be the basis for ongoing work to integrate drones into the aviation system and wider transport sector.
The paper is not intended to set out exactly how drones will be used, or the rules and technological requirements that will apply to drones.
We released the first draft in September 2018 and sought feedback from stakeholders in the drone sector and the general aviation sector. The final paper was released in July 2019 and has since helped to inform the cross-government work programme on drones.
Our paper aims to provide the drone — that is, unmanned aircraft (UA) — sector with a clear understanding of the Government’s role and strategic direction in safely integrating drones into the aviation system and broader transport system.
There are already more than 77,000 drones in New Zealand being used in a variety of ways and across many industries. New Zealand is a world leader in the UA sector due to our good safety regulations, the open way we work and our risk-based regulatory regime for drone operations. We want to retain these advantages and remain at the forefront of drone development by ensuring our approach to drone operations makes the most of the many opportunities they bring while addressing the challenges they trigger.
2019 Beehive media release Drones will help economy take off(external link)
In an integrated system, we will have confidence that all manned and unmanned aircraft are appropriately equipped and can operate safely in any given airspace. This means we need to address the challenges presented by safety, physical security, cyber security, privacy and enforcement.
To integrate drones into the transport system, the Government must:
The paper outlines the responsibilities we have in this work and how we partner with 3 other government agencies — the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Airways, and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). Senior staff from each agency have formed a UA Integration Leadership Group to provide strategic direction and oversight of the work. This group is supported by a cross-government forum that meets regularly and engages with the commercial drone sector.
‘Taking Flight’ has helped to inform the cross-government work programme on drones. We have since commissioned a study to quantify the benefits that drones could have for New Zealand.
We released a draft paper to get feedback from interested stakeholders. The feedback helped us refine the paper, and balance the concerns of the aviation sector against the benefits drones might provide.