DGCA, European Aviation Safety Body To Cooperate On Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Indian civil aviation regulator DGCA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for cooperation in unmanned aircraft systems and on innovative air mobility.

On April 202, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation signed a letter of intent (Lol) on the same with the European agency, during EU-India Aviation Summit held in New Delhi. This MoU will focus on collaboration on unmanned aircraft and innovative air mobility between the two civil aviation authorities.

This collaboration would include cooperation between DGCA and EASA in the areas of "development of certification standards and environmental standards and related requirements for the certification and use of unmanned aircraft systems and innovative air mobility operations which includes licensing of personnel, training, air traffic management and infrastructure, including Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) standards and services".

The MoU will also ensure regular information sharing between the two authorities on the technological developments and research and also their respective strategies for outreach to relevant stakeholders. Further, the MoU will result in collaboration in conducting conferences, workshops, and training programs by DGCA and EASA.

The signing of this MoU is expected to result in harmonized standards and accelerated growth of the Indian unmanned aviation sector. (ANI)