Last year South Africa introduced new regulations for flying of drones, which included the need for a drone pilots licence to be obtained before one could take to the skies.

While the process was a bit of a stop-start affair with some confusion as to what exactly is needed, the first 14 graduates in the Western Cape received their flying wings.

The training and certification was done by UAV Industries (UAVI), the Western Cape’s only drone pilot training centre, and UAV Industries Chief Instructor, Greg Donaldson says this the first step to a much bigger industry in South Africa.

“People think that drones are just good for Cape Town’s booming film industry, but there is a wide diversity of industries that will need, and employ, certified drone pilots – agriculture, infrastructure, and utilities, for example. Anything that manned aviation does today that doesn’t involve the transportation of passengers will be taken over by drones over the next five to ten years so there’s huge opportunities for the industry. Things are moving incredibly quickly,” said Donaldson.

UAVI received its certificate to train possible pilots as a Remote Training Organisation (RTO) in December last year, under part 141 of the Civil Aviation regulations.

Donaldson explains that it is trying to make the process of getting a drone licence as easy as possible, and it takes about four weeks to complete.

“What we’re offering through our training school is the ability to licence the pilot and to get the equivalent in manned aviation of a commercial pilot’s licence. There is a pre-on site program and then there is two week’s full time on site between the ground school and flight school, totalling three to four weeks.”

Naturally, with the facility being the only one in the province, it has seen a huge demand for certification. According to Donaldson, in the first eight weeks it received over 50 bookings.