The Japanese government has eased regulations to allow “level-4” drones flights in which the pilot operates an unmanned aerial vehicle over residential areas without a direct line of sight.
Such flights are expected to take place first with the transport of goods to remote islands and for disaster relief. It will take at least a few years before they can be used to deliver goods around town.
Here are a few things to know about Japan’s easing of drone flight regulations and issues that operators are grappling with.
What is level-4 flight?
There are four types or “levels” of drone flights under Japanese regulations.
Level 1 is where the human pilot stays within visual range of the aircraft. These flights are typically for things like aerial photography and bridge inspections.
Level-2 flights are automated, with a programmed departure, speed, route and arrival that takes place within visual range. These flights are often conducted to spray crops or to survey land for civil engineering projects.
Level-3 flights are “out-of-sight flights over uninhabited areas.” They are permitted in places where humans are not usually present, such as over rivers, the ocean or forests. Test flights conducted by Japan Post for transport between post offices in Fukushima prefecture, in northern Japan, fall into this category.
Level 4 refers to automated drone flights over residential and urban areas where the operator cannot see the vehicle. These will now be permitted, so long as the operator obtains permission from the central government for each flight. They could be used to deliver packages from warehouses to private residences or elsewhere.
These classifications were introduced through a June 2021 revision to the Civil Aeronautics Act; the ban on level-4 drone flights was lifted on Monday when the revised law came into effect. In conjunction with the lifting of the ban on level-4 flights, the government established a certification system for aircraft safety and a licensing system for pilots.
There are two types of drone pilot licenses: first class, which allows the operator to conduct level-4 flights, and second class, which allows the operator to conduct drone flights of level 3 and below. Licenses are valid for three years.
In principle, applicants must take a course at a registered drone school, including a flight test and a physical examination. The first exams for first-class licenses will be held starting in early 2023.
How will city life change as a result of the new drone flight rules?
Hajime Tozaki, a professor of aviation policy at J. F. Oberlin University, predicts that practical use of drones will develop in stages, depending on the region and application. “Some are aiming to put drones to use in urban areas by 2025, but I expect they will be more widely used and developed around 2030,” he said. In addition to deliveries, drones are expected to be used for disaster relief and infrastructure inspections.
Potential applications that could be seen as early as next spring include transport of food, daily necessities and medicine to sparsely populated areas and remote islands, as well as for agricultural shipments in rural areas where drivers are in short supply. In these cases, drones are more likely to fly along routes where there are relatively few people living nearby, such as near ports or in the countryside.
However, the government will not rush to issue flight permits over densely populated areas. Officials believe improvements in drone safety to reduce the risk of crashes and collisions with buildings are needed, as well as measures to reduce noise pollution for residents along the flight paths of drones.
Companies planning to operate drones commercially have been conducting test flights ahead of the lifting of the ban on level-4 flights.
In December 2021, a joint venture between online retailer Rakuten Group and Japan Post successfully conducted a test in which a drone delivered goods from a distribution facility in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, to a downtown apartment building in the city of Chiba. The drone remained in visual range, flying in a straight line for 17 minutes over a distance of about 12 kilometers.
What issues must be dealt with for commercial drone flights to become common?
It will likely take time before drones can make the logistics business more efficient and help to ease the labor shortage in the transport industry. The three main issues are ensuring the safety and profitability of drone deliveries, and pilot training.
On the safety front, the transport ministry, said there were 139 accidents involving unmanned aircraft in Japan in fiscal 2021. In one case, a drone was buffeted by the wind, injuring a person’s hands, while in another case, a drone crashed, causing a fire in a riverbed.
If the number of level-4 flights increases, drones could collide in midair. The government is developing unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM) to help prevent accidents. The system will also take into account weather and geographic conditions.
There were about 320,000 registered drones in Japan as of the end of November. The government plans to install devices on all drones that transmit location information and incorporate these drones into the UTM.
Cost effectiveness is another issue. In many tests in the logistics industry, each drone had to be handled by at least two staff members. Some analysts say that if a single operator cannot manage multiple drones, commercial drone flights will not be profitable.
Finally, there is an urgent need to train more pilots and technicians. Certain skills are required to deal with problems, such as radio and system malfunctions, and even experienced drone pilots need more specialized skills to conduct level-4 flights.
What are other countries doing?
Across the Asia-Pacific region, governments have gradually been allowing drones for commercial and recreational use, and introducing relevant safety rules.
Australia has already put drones to practical commercial use. It has approved two drone delivery operators for specific locations and hours, according to the country’s civil aviation safety authority, enabling shipments of food, medical equipment and other items. For recreational use, pilots cannot fly drones at altitudes above 120 meters, and they must keep the drone at least 30 meters away from other people.
Malaysia also bans flying drones more than 400 feet (about 120 meters) off the ground without authorization from the civil aviation authority.
According to Yoshihiro Fujimaki, a specialist in next-generation aircraft and senior research fellow at the Japan International Transport and Tourism Institute, USA, some places overseas have already started or are on track to begin drone deliveries in urban areas. Amazon.com has been working on the concept of drone delivery since 2013 and obtained an air transport business license in 2020. The company plans to begin service in parts of Texas and elsewhere by the end of the year.
Photo: drone flying over Sumida River in Tokyo delivering medicines – Japan Airlines(Kyodo)
Source: Nikkei Asia