As part of dronePORT opening in Hamburg, HHLA Sky, a subsidiary of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik , presented its solutions for efficient drone operations in Hamburg. The dronePORT Hamburg is the first location for unmanned aviation and mobile sensor technology and was opened today by the Hamburg Port Authority, the Hamburg Police and Hamburg Aviation. The dronePort is the first ground infrastructure of its kind in Europe.

HHLA Sky provides drones for inspecting the Port of Hamburg and shipping lanes as well as the technology required for automated drone control and management of the drone fleet: the Integrated Control Center.

Matthias Gronstedt, Managing Director of HHLA Sky: “Automation is the key to efficient drone operations: HHLA Sky’s Integrated Control Center makes flights beyond visual range possible and drone operations safely scalable. We are delighted to be part of dronePORT with this technology and to offer our services here.”

The Integrated Control Center is a highly automated process management and control center software that enables drone flights over long distances and without visual contact with the pilot (Beyond Visual Line of Sight – BVLOS): For example, when inspecting infrastructure objects such as bridges, roads and large areas. An operator in the control center monitors these flights and can intervene at any time. He is able to monitor several drone flights at the same time. In total, more than 100 BVLOS-automated drone flights can be carried out simultaneously via the Integrated Control Center.

In addition to HHLA Sky, the HPA and the police, other partners such as LSBG, Beagle Systems, Flynex, ZAL, HAW and EmQopter also presented their products and projects (e.g. CITYAM, BLU-Space) at the dronePORT opening.