Alex Trelinski
BENIDORM has become the first European city to host a simultaneous demonstration of an air taxi and drones flying in a built-up area.
A dozen drones and a two-passenger taxi went over the resort’s Levante and Poniente beaches.
The trial was part of a European project aimed at using both types of craft safely in an urban environment- monitored by new ‘game-changing’ technology.
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The drones delivered parcels and carried out surveillance in tandem with the piloted taxi.
The Polytechnic University of Valencia coordinated the tests which took three years to set up as part of a Europe-wide initiative.
A digital air traffic control system called U-Space managed the flights to ensure there no problems caused to conventional aviation.
Benidorm was regarded as a perfect test zone with its high number of skyscrapers in a concentrated area.
The city’s mayor, Antonio Perez, said “We have been pioneers in Spain in using drones for the local police for nine years and we were delighted to make our airspace available for testing unmanned air transport.”
