New flight corridor for long-haul drone flights near Nordholz and Cuxhaven
Frankfurt, 13.03.2025 - Droniq GmbH and the Bundeswehr Drone Innovation Hub (DIH) are establishing a flight corridor for long-haul drone flights near Nordholz and Cuxhaven. The aim is to establish long-haul flights with drones in military and civilian airspace structures. The corridor is being set up as part of the Achilles research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Defense and the European Defence Agency (EDA). Regular operations in this corridor will start this spring.
Achilles research project: Paving the way for the integration of long-range drones
The Achilles research project aims to create the basis for commercial and military drone flights over long distances with the aim of safe integration into existing air traffic control processes.
For this purpose, a flight corridor was defined that stretches over 110 kilometers from the Nordholz military airfield via Cuxhaven to Helgoland. Drone flights can take place here at an altitude of over 200 meters. Approval from the relevant authorities was granted last year.
Together with Droniq, a subsidiary of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, the DIH plans to offer drone flights along the corridor as a regular service to other authorities and organizations with security tasks (BOS) and drone start-ups.
Possible applications include Protecting critical infrastructure, monitoring shipping lanes or carrying out environmental monitoring.
"With the new flight corridor, we are demonstrating that unmanned air traffic is also possible over longer distances despite high regulatory requirements," says Thilo Vogt, Director Sales and Business Development at Droniq. "This opens up completely new fields of application for drones, the potential of which has not yet been exhausted."
"The new flight corridor marks an important step for unmanned aviation," says the current Head of Air Traffic Control at the Bundeswehr Technical Service WTD61 and future Air Traffic Control Staff Officer of the Bundeswehr's Equipment, Information Technology and Utilization (AIN) organizational unit. "The integration of unmanned systems into (military) controlled airspace in basic operations is a future prerequisite for expanding the capabilities of military aviation. The aim is to create synergies between manned and unmanned systems that will not require separate airspace for drone flights in future. In our view, the Achilles research project represents a milestone on the road to integration. We are following this with great interest and are providing support as part of our mandate. It demonstrates that unmanned aviation in civil-military airspace is also possible over longer distances despite high regulatory requirements. This opens up the potential for the Bundeswehr to use long-range drones for exercises in the future."
Challenges with long-haul drone flights
Fixed-wing drones are used for long-distance drone flights. Compared to a multicopter, this type of drone does not take off vertically. Instead, they require a runway for take-off and landing, similar to a manned aircraft. The take-off and landing of such drones is therefore carried out by a pilot with visual contact to the drone.
Another requirement relates to the approval procedure. Its complexity increases with the size of the area to be flown over. In the case of the flight corridor set up by Droniq and the DIH, for example, the requirements for military and civil airspace and a large number of geographical areas, such as federal waterways, nature reserves and the Wadden Sea National Park, had to be taken into account. Several approvals had to be obtained from military air traffic control and in three federal states (Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein).
In addition, a large part of drone long-haul flights are highly automated and, apart from take-off and landing, take place largely out of the pilot's line of sight[1]. A reliable radio data link must therefore be used to ensure that the drone operations center can see the drones and surrounding manned air traffic electronically throughout the flight in order to take evasive action if necessary.
Solutions for the Cuxhaven flight corridor
The DIH and Droniq are using a drone from Bremen-based company Hanseatic Aviation Solutions to carry out long-distance drone flights in the Achilles research project: this drone has a wingspan of 3.6 meters and a take-off weight of around 25 kilograms. It flies at a speed of up to 100 kilometers per hour.
A traffic management system provided by Droniq is used to ensure safe flight operations. For this purpose, antennas for receiving drone flights were set up on Helgoland - the old radar tower - with the support of Operations Command Area 2 from Wittmund: A live air situation shows the remote pilot in the drone operations center the flight movement of the drone and all manned air traffic in this corridor.
The drone pilot can also see the surrounding shipping traffic. Thanks to an additional transponder (position transmitter), the drone is also visible to air traffic control radar. The drone pilot can also communicate with air traffic control at any time via aeronautical radio.
In the future, the DIH as a contact point for start-ups, the Soldat Innovation Lab with the Bundeswehr Assistance Systems and Robotics Research Group and Droniq are planning to further expand the flight corridor and develop additional areas and flight corridors.
[1] The technical term here is BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight).
Droniq GmbH
Phil Stephan
Phone: +49 171 6099 747
E-mail: phil.stephan@droniq.de
About Droniq GmbH
Droniq GmbH is a joint venture founded in 2019 by DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung (51% share) and Deutsche Telekom (49% share). Based in Frankfurt am Main, the company's mission is to promote the professional and safe use of drones by public authorities and organizations with security tasks, as well as by companies.
The core of Droniq's product offering is the Droniq Traffic Management System for Drones (UTM). The UTM shows the pilot all surrounding air traffic - manned and unmanned. Furthermore, the other air traffic participants can also see the drone if necessary. With this system, which is unique in Germany, Droniq creates the basis for using drones safely beyond visual range.
Other services offered by Droniq include the sale of drones for commercial and government drone use, as well as hardware and software solutions for safe operation. It also supports its customers in applying for operating permits and advises on mission planning. With its Droniq Academy, which has offices in Frankfurt and Mönchengladbach, among other cities, the company also offers training and exams for remote pilots. Droniq's customers include federal and state police units as well as fire departments, rescue forces and companies from the chemical, logistics, construction and security sectors.
