Future Needs in the opening of the 1st Droneport in Greece @Messolonghi

Droneport is a new word for Greek standards and an innovation for Greek air mobility and U-Space in general. This is why Future Needs and Hellenic U-Space Institute (Η.U.S.I.) organised an executive event on the 23rd of September at the airport of the historic Greek city of Messolonghi in order to mark the official opening of a special location for drone testing, flights and research – the 1st Droneport in Greece and the only one registered recently in the EUROCONTROL body. 

The Hellenic Droneport facility in Messolonghi is the perfect testbed for drone flights, for the validation of new technologies and the training of drone pilots. It is a great opportunity for everyone with a vision on U- Space to manage to connect to an ecosystem of innovative companies and testing grounds in this sector. This site in the Messolonghi airport is a safe space for experimentation as it is located away from populated areas, there is no heavy air traffic and the quality of the ground is good.  

During the event, the mayor of Messolonghi, Mr Lyros Konstantinos welcomed us in his city, marking the importance of the Hellenic Droneport for the Greek U-Space.

We were also honored to have Mr. Robin Garrity, Senior External Affairs Officer at SESAR Joint Undertaking, with us at the event. Mr Garrity underlined the importance of the input all relevant European organisations and companies have provided to SESAR in order to produce a solid drone regulation plan for the EU airspace. He also emphasized the difficulties of the coexistence of manned and unmanned aviation in the same environment at the same time with safety being on top of everything. He applauded our initiative to create a Droneport space in Greece and wished us good luck with our next steps. 

Another distinct speaker was Mrs Antigoni Karahaliou from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority. She talked about the role of HCAA in the Greek airspace, the unmanned air zones that have been recently established in Greece and the regulation issues that come up. 

Our Founder and Head of Research and Business Development, Mrs Anna Palaiologk, presented a number of “Funding opportunities for a European U-Space”, such as the Horizon Europe, Erasmus Plus and Connected Europe Facility programmes, explaining their aims, similarities and differences. She invited all participants to collaborate in order to build a strong South-Eastern European U-space ecosystem, given that this region lacks initiatives and funding at the moment. 

On behalf of HUSI, Miss Afroditi Sakellaropoulou, UAS Legal Research & Business Development Manager, talked about how advanced air mobility can be sustainable and explained the extent to which drones are currently used in Greece.

Mr Milan Rollo, CTO of AgentFly Technologies , and Mr Premysl Volf, CEO at AgentFly Technologies s.r.o., both also Senior Researchers at the Czech Technical University in Prague, gave an insightful presentation demonstrating the simulations of medical flights in the cities of Prague and Athens – a task they work on together with H.U.S.I and Future Needs in the SAFIR-Med project. 

The event was chaired by Christos Skliros, Head of Engineering at Hellenic Drones S.A.

Future Needs invites any organisation, company or individual who wants to use the Hellenic Droneport as a testbed in European national or commercial projects to get in touch with us. We will be happy to facilitate your access to the Hellenic Droneport facilities.