Medical flight trials to be held in the complex Antwerp airspace 

As drone technology is rapidly evolving, EU implements new drone legislation and the interest in medical applications grows, exemplified by COVID-19 concerns. The pressure is now on to ensure safe and secure integration into European airspace (U-space).  The SAFIR-Med project demonstrates ways to achieve safe, sustainable, socially accepted and socially beneficial urban air mobility.  Following the operational event in DronePort and closing off a second series of flight trials, the SAFIR-MED project organises an executive event to share its experiences during a medical aviation conference at the Antwerp Port House, in Belgium. The event will bring together, executives from medical and aviation sectors with EU & national policy makers as well as local authorities, on 02/06/22 (afternoon), writes SAFIR-Med in a press release.  

This conference showcases medical use cases being developed within the SAFIR-MED project, including transport of human tissue, biological lab samples, medicine, AED (defibrillator) as well as doctors or patients. All attendants and the people of Antwerp will witness advanced flights demonstration over the city complex airspace, that require close cooperation and coordination with the Civil Aviation Authorities, Air Traffic Control, local authorities, various geo zones (e.g. Port of Antwerp, the Antwerp airport and heliport geozone managers) as well emergency services.  

Presentation of unmanned aircrafts

As the conference is oriented to policymakers and industry executives, a compact version of unmanned aviation status and opportunities will be presented within a single afternoon. The attendants of this closed (invitation only) event will experience the drone world at first hand, witness the future integration of drones into wider air traffic and be able to directly interact with the key actors. Experts participating in panel discussions will highlight the potential of drone logistics from different viewpoints and will give an insight in new capabilities and services that are developed at EU level (SAFIR-Med project). The five drone manufacturers participating in the project and performing the demonstration flight will also showcase their UAVs in the Antwerp Port House. All attendants will have the opportunity to meet with healthcare leaders and to discuss the future of drone logistics face-to-face.  As the (unmanned) aviation legislation is a EU competency, an exceptionally strong EU level delegation from EC DG Move, EASA, Eurocontrol and SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking will be both present and actively involved in the presentations.   

About the event

Industry leaders that are interested in meeting in person key decision makers are invited to contact  tim.cleys(AT)helicus.com for registrations and further information about the event, while all citizens are invited to watch advanced flights demonstrations that will take place, visible from within the city.  

​Event details and the agenda are available here, and more about the challenges of this EU Very Large Demonstration project here. For more information on the project visit www.safir-med.eu.  

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