With the establishment of the Drone Competence Center as a dedicated department within Austro Control in July 2019, the topic of droneslong considered a key element of aviation's futurewas strategically consolidated at a central point within the organization. However, drones are not only a future-oriented topic in public discourse; they are already a part of everyday reality and engage Austro Control in multiple operational areas.
The Drone Competence Center focuses on the following core responsibilities:
- Ensuring safe integration of unmanned and manned aviation: As Austro Control, we are responsible for facilitating the safe coexistence of crewed and uncrewed aircraft operations in Austrian airspace.
- Implementing and evolving the regulatory framework: In our role as the competent aviation authority and in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK), we are responsible for the implementation and continuous development of drone-related regulations. This ensures a robust legal framework enabling the safe operation of drones in Austrian airspace.
- Managing air traffic and airspace access: As Austria’s air navigation service provider, we ensure the safe handling of air traffic and are responsible for the approval of drone operations within specific types of controlled airspace (e.g., control zones).
We foster innovative drone applications
Drones offer significant innovation potential, with use cases ranging from emergency response (fire and rescue services), disaster relief and nature conservation, to infrastructure monitoring. Our goalboth as the aviation authority and as the air navigation service provideris to actively support and enable such innovative applications. We firmly believe that safety is the foundation for successful innovation. Therefore, we pursue a collaborative approach, engaging with manufacturers and operators to shape a targeted regulatory environment and to rapidly facilitate safe use cases.
The increasing diversity of applications is driving strong growth in drone operations and presents growing challenges for their integration into existing airspace structures. To address these challenges proactively, the Drone Competence Center focuses on assessing strategic developments in the drone sector and identifying the resulting needs for technical solutions, infrastructure and procedures. This approach ensures that Austro Control remains well-positioned for the future.
We foster dialogue
As diverse as the possible applications of drones are, so too is the range of stakeholders affected across Austria. The Drone Competence Center aims to bring together all relevant actors and facilitate an ongoing dialogue. To achieve this, we involve a wide variety of groupsincluding manufacturers, operators, industry associations, public authorities, as well as representatives from science and researchthrough various event formats such as conferences, workshops and panel discussions.
These dialogues are intended to enable the exchange of expertise, provide consistent and transparent information on applicable regulations and upcoming changes, and ensure that Austrian interests and experiences are meaningfully incorporated into the further development of European and international regulatory frameworks.