Building a large urban droneport in a subarctic climate is an innovative project with no direct templates or guidelines. After extensive planning, the site is now paved and the buildings are in place, but some work remains before one of Europe’s largest urban drone airports can be inaugurated.
The take-off and landing area and surrounding areas have now been paved with materials that significantly reduce climate impact. By using Asfalt Zero – a climate-smart asphalt made with pine oil – Skellefteå is setting an example for environmentally friendly infrastructure.
It started with an idea on a post-it note two years ago, and by the end of this year, the idea will become a reality. Skellefteå Droneport is one of the first droneports in Europe being built in an urban environment. The Droneport will be a physical space for development, research, education, and commercialization of drone-related solutions.
If everything goes according to plan, Skellefteå can make history in terms of electrified aviation. Here is the world's most sustainable pilot academy, a test bed for battery- and hydrogen-powered flights and soon one of Europe's largest droneports. The team at the ELIS program with Henrik Littorin, Magnus Wiklund and Annelie Viksten tell us more about the continued plans for electric flights in Skellefteå.
All test facilities for autonomous aviation across Europe have their own specific focus, but all struggle with the same obstacles. This became evident when representatives from Skellefteå Droneport participated in the networking event organized recently in Amsterdam by the European UAS Test Centre Alliance.
After a few days at the Amsterdam Drone Week, the conclusion was that the work on the Skellefteå Droneport is a crucial piece in the development of drones and drone-related services.
On March 16-17, ELIS program and Skanska are participating in Amsterdam Drone Week, Europe's largest conference and trade show in the drone industry.
The collaboration project TakeOff focuses on building competence and increasing knowledge in electric aviation to achieve the goal of reducing dependence on fossil fuels and enabling a more environmentally friendly future for aviation.
To meet the increased demands for electricity for charging at airports, the partners in the collaboration project YourFlight will investigate how electricity supply can be best provided.