Australian Regulator Approves First Commercial Drone Flights

ParaZero Technologies and urban air mobility aircraft announced today a first-ever Australian authorization for drones to operate over populated areas and near people when using ParaZero safety systems, approved by the Civil Aviation Safety Agency (CASA).

With the use of ParaZero’s advanced parachute safety technology, ParaZero’s regional partner, OVRL, has landed a precedent-setting historic approval for complex operations.

OVRL’s tailored safety case and Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) application helped facilitate the landmark approval, now paving the way for all organizations throughout Australia to benefit from similar operational approvals.

“We are extremely proud to be the first commercial drone operator and training provider to bring this exciting new capability to the Australian market. This achievement once again demonstrates our commitment to safety while being at the forefront of commercial operations in Australia. We look forward to helping the industry utilize ParaZero systems and are excited to see the new, previously untested use cases for commercial drones now that they can be legally flown overhead people,” commented Tim Butler, CEO of OVRL.

“We are honored that ParaZero’s technology has been approved to enable a new global territory to conduct advanced drone operations with our SafeAir product line,” commented Aaron Gliner, ParaZero Director of Business Development and Regulation.

“We extend our gratitude to the Civil Aviation Safety Agency and our regional partners, OVRL, for their collaborative efforts over the course of several years of rigorous safety case work and analysis, which will now benefit all commercial drone operators seeking to apply for similar authorizations throughout Australia.”

The precedent-setting CASA authorization follows the major announcement regarding the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granting the Airobotics Optimus-1EX system an airworthiness Type Certification, a historic milestone that will streamline continuous operational approvals for broad flight operations, including fully autonomous missions, operations over people, and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations.