The British government has greenlit plans for a drone 'superhighway'.

A consortium led by the Reading-based Unified Traffic Management (UTM) software provider Altitude Angel submitted plans in March 2022 which envisioned the 165-mile (265km) drone superhighway connecting airspace above cities including Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry, and Rugby.

Known as Project Skyway, the project will enable businesses to develop and grow through commercialisation of new and innovative drone-based products, processes, and services, the consortium said.

Further, the consortium has said it will not impose punitive financial barriers to fly, and the superhighway will be able to support fully automated drone flights beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) from any drone company which completes a series of basic technical integrations.

Richard Parker, chief executive and founder of Altitude Angel, commented: “This is the most ambitious transport project proposed for the country since the advent of the railway network in the 18th century.”

He added: “With the government’s support, using this technology as its foundation, we can create networks spanning the length and breadth of Britain, a super-highway-network-in-the-sky, providing a critical digital infrastructure which will, in-turn, enable the world’s first truly national drone economy.”

The government will officially announce the project today at Farnborough Air Show.

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