The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and HM Government, as well as representatives from the UK aviation industry, have been working to modernise UK airspace with a programme aimed at reducing airspace and airport congestion and decreasing industry CO2 emissions, as well as the implementation of stricter measures to help crackdown on the misuse of unmanned aircraft (UA).
The Transport Secretary has been granted a range of additional powers to help enhance and decarbonise the country’s aviation industry's infrastructure. The new provisions under the Act mean airports that don’t implement changes quickly enough could be directed to modernise their airspace, helping deliver quicker, quieter and cleaner journeys.
This modernising of UK airspace will occur through the re-routing of existing flight paths, and will play a vital role in HM Government’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality moving past the pandemic, generating lower CO2 emissions from flights while also reducing noise pollution and improving punctuality and efficiency for passengers.
The rising need for stricter UA measures follows the significant increase in the number of incidents involving a UA coming within unsafe proximity of a manned aircraft within and outside of airport boundaries, from six incidents in 2014 to 126 incidents in 2018, as well as a number of high-profile cases such as the December 2018 disruption at London Gatwick airport.
A number of measures are already in place to combat UA misuse - HM Government published a counter drone strategy in October 2019 and from November 2019, using converted parallel EU legislation, it has been mandatory for small unmanned aircraft operators to register and take an online competency test. This new Act marks a major step forward for those pushing for stricter controls on UA.
