On 1 September, the SAFIR-Med project brought together policy makers, healthcare stakeholders, technical experts and citizens to Aachen, with the aim to share and discuss their views on the future of drone traffic in Germany and Europe.

The SAFIR-Med team presented the work with respect to safety aspects and risk assessment towards airspace integration and drone traffic management of the beyond visual line of sight operation (BLVOS) across borders.

Citizens should be able to participate in the decision making regarding the drone integration in the city infrastructure, noted the SAFIR-Med partners, including the city of Aachen which hosted the event. In addition to the technical and legal feasibility of such challenging goals, the most important prerequisites for the successful introduction and implementation of new technologies is to address the concerns of the citizens in order to ensure social acceptance.

During the afternoon session citizens were able to get a first-hand impression of the current status of urban air mobility and ask questions to a panel of SAFIR-Med experts.

SAFIR-MED project members  and representatives from SJU, EASA and LBA 
(Photo credit: Sebastian Kehr, Wirtschaftsförderung Aachen)