The drones will be used on the 164-mile Skyway project connecting towns and cities, including Cambridge and Rugby. It is part of a £273m funding package for the aerospace sector which will be revealed by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday. Other projects include drones delivering mail to the Isles of Scilly and medication across Scotland.
Dave Pankhurst, director of drones at BT, told the BBC that Skyway is about scaling up trials that have been taking place around the UK. “This drone capability has existed for quite some time, but is in its infancy in terms of being actually part of our society and being a usable application,” he said. “So for us, this is about taking a significant step towards that point. It’s going to open up so many opportunities.”
Skyway aims to connect the airspace above Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Coventry and Rugby by mid-2024, and will receive more than £12m.
The Royal Mail has said it wants a fleet of 500 drones to carry mail to remote UK communities
Mr Pankhurst said the project was working alongside the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ensure safety. “The way they work as an organisation is very evidence-based,” he said. “Safety is just paramount in this industry, but importantly, nothing happens without the regulator actually signing it off. The CAA is part of all of these future flight projects. It is part of all of these activities, validating the progress and making sure they’re safe.”
The future is now … 
