Regulating the Use of Commercial Drones: Quest for Finding A Space Within Airspace – An Asian Perspective

Abstract

The advent of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has significantly affected the navigational route of the existing aviation system. Though there are sufficiently developed air routes for national and international flights, the drones have become a threat or at least an encroachment upon those peaceable use of the air navigational routes. At several reported instances, close collisions of aircraft and drones got averted that would have otherwise caused severe disturbances to the paths of the aircraft. On the request of its Member-States, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has developed a model for drone regulations. However, such regulations need uniformity and consanguinity among national regulations that  complement global initiatives. Thus, this paper seeks to analyze the prevalent Asian practices on drone regulations. Since the technology has got its imminence in Asian markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore with future scope for other Asian countries, the authors make a comparative analysis of “policies” of Asian countries, with the policies of the European Union and the United States. In conclusion, the paper prefers an argument for developing a dedicated Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for drones within the currently available flying zones so that any future misfortunes could be averted.

Keywords: Drones, Asia, International, Policy, Navigation, Regulation.

DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/71-05

Publication date: April 30^th 2021