The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency launched a new DroneTower mobile application on April 15, 2024, which is now the official IT system for reporting the intention to fly a drone (Check-In).
The new free DroneTower application , the creator and sole owner of which is the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency, is available for download in the Google Play and App Store. In a few steps, in an easy and intuitive way, the application allows, among others: to check flight conditions in a selected location, enables the operator/pilot of an unmanned aircraft (UAV) to notify the intention to fly (Check-In), conduct non-verbal two-way communication with an air traffic controller in the case of flights in the controlled zone of airports, inform about situations emergency situations and reminds about the expiring Check-In time, as well as provides information about other reported UAV flights in the immediate vicinity.
Therefore, the current, transitional solution checkin.pansa.pl has been withdrawn from operational use and will only be used in emergency situations. The new application is intuitive and comfortable to use.
The DroneTower application is another source of imaging of the Polish airspace made available by PANSA. It contains information about both fixed and flexible zones – active and inactive. Using the application requires creating an account in the PansaUTM system. The DroneTower application is part of the PansaUTM system, therefore it allows operators to access the missions they have created and activate them at the time of Check-In.
“Today, drones are present throughout our lives – in agriculture, construction, and railways. Today, the drone determines our safety, information, the rapid flow of this information and its accuracy. A well-functioning drone market directly affects the functioning of our economy. Launching this application was a necessity, we really wanted it to be our own, Polish product, controlled by the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency. We are in troubled times, the times we live in today require close links with security and the economy, which is why we decided to use the application that we own”
– said Dariusz Klimczak, Minister of Infrastructure.
“We are glad that for the upcoming drone season, UAV users have gained a new tool – the DroneTower mobile application, which will allow them not only to fulfill their obligation to report their intention to fly a drone, but above all thanks to two-way, non-verbal communication with the tower and by imaging the airspace, will increase the safety of all its users. DroneTower, together with a number of newly developed solutions and systems supporting drone flights that we plan to introduce to the market, will soon create a comprehensive and coherent drone ecosystem in Poland. We plan to further develop and introduce further functionalities in the DroneTower application in the coming months. We want to do it together with the drone community”
said Maciej Włodarczyk, head of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Center at PANSA.
First, it is planned to add weather information to the application, and then introduce the functionalities suggested by the BSP environment. In the coming weeks, a new module of the PansaUTM system – Geozones – will be made available, used to apply for geographical zones for authorized entities. DroneTower will soon be integrated with electronic services for UAVs implemented by the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Office and the Ministry of Infrastructure as part of the Digital Poland Operational Program 2014-2020, co-financed by the European Union.
Pursuant to Guidelines No. 15 of the President of the Civil Aviation Office of June 1, 2023 , each UAV flight in Polish airspace should take place after informing PANSA about the intention to perform the flight via the IT system specified by the Agency. This means that each UAV flight must be preceded by a formal Check-In in the DroneTower application. The DroneTower user manual as well as the rules for conducting UAV flights in Polish airspace can be found on the pansa.pl website in the Drones tab .
Additionally, in recent weeks, as part of the “Digital Services for UAV” project implemented by PANSA in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Office and the Ministry of Infrastructure, a new portal called the National Drone Information System (KSID) was launched, allowing for matters related to the registration of operators and pilots, obtaining authorizations for various types of operations, access to information on CAO permits and the ability to digitally manage your basic data.
For years, the drone market in Poland has been the most dynamically developing branch of the aviation industry, which is reflected in the number of UAV operations performed. According to data from the Civil Aviation Office, there are currently a quarter of a million UAV operators registered in Poland. Data from the PansaUTM system show that in 2023 the number of active, unique users of the system was approximately 47,700. They reported a total of 668,786 UAV operations by creating the so-called Check-In. This is more than twice the number of manned VFR operations handled by FIS informants, which was over 275,000 during the same period.
The DroneTower application user manual is available at pansa.pl.
Source: Press Release