Danish Transit Authority OKs Autonomous Drone Missions for Azur

French drone startup Azur Drones has obtained its first autonomous flight authorization in the Northern European market. The Danish Transport Authority gave the OK for the company to deploy its Skeyetech drone-in-box solution on safety and operations missions within the oil-and-gas sector.

An Azur spokesperson says the process included a risk analysis known as Specific Operational Risk Assessment as approved by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and adds the company “has been contributing to regulatory works at the international level to make autonomous flights a standard.”

Using high-definition optical and thermal sensors, Skeyetech autonomous drones can fly daily surveillance and inspection missions and can be directly controlled by security teams without the necessity of remote pilot training.

Skeyetech’s design is based on aerospace standards to include motor redundancy, vital equipment redundancy, pyrotechnical parachute and geo-caging system. The system has logged more than 10,000 autonomous flights.

In a 2019 exclusive interview with DroneLife, Azur’s Director General Stephane Morelli expanded on the company’s philosophy:

“We chose the security sector because we thought that technology, and in particular our highly automated drone solution, would create a real break in usage and in the business model of suppliers in this sector. This choice is now validated by our customers.”

Earlier this year, Azur announced a contract to protect a recycled nuclear fuel site in The Hague. Azur drones will coordinate with on-ground security teams to maintain 24-7 surveillance over the highly sensitive site.

Azur received France’s first authorization for autonomous flight in 2019. Last year, the company garnered $2.9 million in new financing from a private investor for a total of nearly $29 million over four years.