Brussels Airport Co. to acquire 30% of DronePort

Brussels Airport Co. says it will invest in DronePort to further explore and create drone technology for use in airport operations. DronePort works to stimulate research and innovation by creating an ecosystem for the drone and advanced air mobility sector. It is located at a former air force base in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, and includes a regional airport, a drone test site and an incubator. Brussels Airport Co. (BAC) , which operates Brussels Airport (BRU), plans to acquire 30% of DronePort, BAC Chief Executive Arnaud Feist said this month in a release. The transaction is expected to be complete by mid-year. “We are increasingly investing in the development of innovative technologies and work on various drone projects in the area of airport security and operational efficiency, amongst others,” Feist said in the release. “With this participation in DronePort, Brussels Airport wishes to strengthen the development of solutions and services based on drone technology.” Creating international drone hub This investment will put BRU at the forefront of DronePort’s innovations and its goal of becoming an international cargo drone airport. DronePort is an initiative of LRM , a Netherlands-based investment company. “The entry of Brussels Airport Co. will be the start of a new chapter for DronePort, the next step in the life cycle of the company,” Tom Vanham, general director of LRM, said in a release. “Brussels Airport is a strong strategic partner with sound aviation knowledge, a clear ambition and an international network that can help DronePort upscale to a reference in the drone sector at European level.” DronePort, in cooperation with partners in the aviation industry and in academia, is creating a manned and unmanned aviation hub. “We have an incubator here; we have some testing aviation space here, where parties can do some tests with drones,” Tom Aerts, head of investments at LRM, told Air Cargo Next . DronePort is spread over 30 hectares (approximately 70 acres) and has a 1,200-meter runway (about 3,937 feet), according to Aerts. Aviation partners at the site have access to the runway, office space and additional testing space. The appeal of DronePort, Aerts said, comes from its central location in Europe. “You can reach the whole of Europe from this campus,” he said. DronePort is one of the few sites in Europe with authorization for manned and unmanned aviation, according to Jack Waldeyer, a private investor with JK Invest , a co-founder of DronePort. “That means that all the experience we have already with manned aviation, we can just transport it to the unmanned, and the fact that we do it together with the approval of the Belgian authorities makes us a little bit unique,” Waldeyer told Air Cargo Next . BRU looks to be key player BRU became a shareholder of SkeyDrone , which develops software to allow drone operators and authorities to manage drone flights safely, in 2021. “As an airport, it is important to keep a close eye on developments in the field of drones and unmanned air traffic; that sector is evolving rapidly and offers new opportunities for the aviation industry,” BRU spokesperson Ihsan Chioua Lekhli said. “We are currently testing several use cases together with SkeyDrone, including projects around operations improvement, foreign object detection, crisis management and construction management,” she added. “In addition, SkeyDrone has also partnered with Proximus and DroneMatrix to design and develop the 6th NeTWorK concept. Being part of this Belgian drone ecosystem is crucial for Brussels Airport given our ambition to play a leading role.” The 6th NeTWorK consortium aims to create a drone network with national coverage in Belgium for companies to use as a service.

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