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FAA increases NUAIR’s operational air space to 450 square miles

NUAIR’s new operational airspace now spans a significant 450 square miles in Central New York. (Image credit: NUAIR website)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued NUAIR a

Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) waiver that nearly doubles its operational

commercial airspace in the Syracuse region.

(Sponsored)

What started as an initial 50-mile “narrow corridor” in 2016 and eventually grew to a 240-square-mile area supporting a variety of terrain and infrastructure is now covering 450 square miles.

With the growth, “the opportunities for uncrewed aerial systems (drones), next generation aviation, and advanced air mobility continue to grow exponentially in Central New York,” per the NUAIR announcement.

The nonprofit NUAIR, which is headquartered at Syracuse Hancock International Airport, is short for the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance, Inc.

NUAIR’s expanded coverage — which it says is now the largest BVLOS airspace in the Northeast U.S. — includes locations that are significant to the Central New York community.

They include downtown Syracuse, meaning Upstate Medical University will be able to leverage NUAIR’s BVLOS network to safely put its delivery plans into operation. Upstate Medical is “launching skyward” with drones now able to deliver commercial medical and pharmaceutical packages to the surrounding area as well as deploy regularly to its cancer center over 40 miles away.

The town of Clay, which will eventually be home to the massive manufacturing campus of Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), is also included in the expanded area. The technology produced at this upcoming plant “offers a perfect use case” for Rural Air Mobility (RAM) with the transportation of chips by electric or hybrid aircraft — “reducing both traffic congestion and product damage from traditional transportation,” NUAIR noted.

“The expansion of NUAIR’s BVLOS airspace doubles our capacity and service opportunities for all our partners and clients: commercial, state, and federal.” Ken Stewart, president and CEO of NUAIR, explained in the announcement. “It’s a win for more than NUAIR though — it’s a win for all of New York State.”

 

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