Soon to Come: Droneport, Airport for Drone

Aerodrome LLC is a company that owns and manages teaching airport for drone that provides training for people to obtain FAA certification as drone pilot or technician. The company with its partners, City of Boulder City, Nevada will build the first droneport, airport for drone.

Market Wired reported that Aerodome and City of Boulder City announced on Saturday, December 12 to build the world's first commercial droneport and teaching facility in Boulder City, NV. A droneport is a facility tailored specifically to Unmanned Air Systems (UAS).

The facility is approved by FAA and provided training for people who wants to learn flying drone, as well as testing facility for FAA pilot certification. Other educational, research and development services are also provided in the facility. In regard to training and certification for drone pilot, Jonathan Daniels, Aerodome president said, "Unmanned air systems are inherently different from manned aircraft and require a whole new type of expertise in order to be executed safely."

Furthermore, Jonathan Daniels explain the need of droneport facility, "There are currently over 2,500 companies in the U.S. with FAA 333 exemption to fly commercial drones, and only one place in the world where they now take priority over manned aircraft. This droneport is the model for the rest of the country, if not the world."

According to Airport Technology, Aerodrome has already started the construction of its commercial droneport and teaching facility, the entire 50-acre area facility is planned to be completed in approximately three years. The droneport is located approximately 28 miles from the Las Vegas.

As drone's popularity surges, FAA predicted that in this holiday season there will be one million drone to enter the U.S. airspace. As the report regarding dangerous drone activity is going up, FAA takes necessary measure to register all drones operated in the U.S. The registration process, along with training and certification for pilot will ensure the safety and responsibility for drone owners and pilot.

According to FAA official press release, drone is considered as an aircraft and therefore it requires a registration and certification for people who fly the UAS. FAA itself has already established a simple and user-friendly web-based aircraft registration process for owners of small unmanned aircraft, weighing more than 0.55 pounds (250 grams) and less than 55 pounds (approx. 25 kilograms) including payloads such as on-board cameras. The registration proces will begin on December 21.

Drone has gained popularity since Black Friday shopping spree this year and become one of the hottest holiday gift. In order to regulate the growing popularity of this UAS, an appropriate registration and certification must be put in place. FAA has already prepared the droneport facility, along with training and certification for drone pilot and technician.