Drone technology is rapidly evolving. The SAFIR-Med project demonstrates ways to achieve safe, sustainable, socially accepted and socially beneficial urban air mobility.  With the impulse from COVID-19 and EU drone legislation, the landscape is changing in favour of medical drones. As the interest in medical applications grows, the pressure is on to ensure safe and secure integration into European airspace (U-space).  This event aims to showcase the various medical use cases being developed within the SAFIR-MED project, including transport of human tissue, biological lab samples, medicine, AED (defibrillator) and patients, all taking place above densely populated areas. All attendants and the people of Antwerp will witness advanced flights demonstration over the city. At the same time the conference taking place in the Antwerp Port House is oriented to policy makers and industry executives and aims to present a compact version of unmanned aviation status and opportunities, within a single afternoon.

The attendants of this closed (on invitation only) event experienced the drone world at first hand, witnessed the future integration of drones into wider air traffic and provided their feedback. Different panel discussions highlighted the potential of drone logistics from different viewpoints and will give an insight into new capabilities and services that are developed in SAFIR-Med. Different drone manufacturers participating in the project displayed their UAVs and performed a demonstration flight near the Antwerp Port House. The attendants had the opportunity to meet with healthcare leaders and to discuss the future of drone logistics face-to-face.  A strong EU level delegation from EC DG Move, EASA, SESAR JU and Eurocontrol and also leaders of important organisations of Air Traffic Control, Civil Aviation and healthcare authority level will be joining the event.

Industry leaders that are interested in meeting in person the key decision makers at an EU level are invited to contact tim.cleys(AT)helicus.com for registrations, while all citizens are invited to watch advanced flights demonstrations that will take place over the city.

HUSI external partner; Adriaan Weise, a Compliance Specialist coming from a legal background with studies in South Africa and the Netherlands, participated in a panel on Healthcare and Society, wherein he spoke about our role in the project, as well as the potentialities of an ecosystem wherein AAM becomes integrated within the sector of healthcare and into society as a whole.

To learn more about the event and the demonstrations, stay tuned with SAFIR-Med news here.