Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Drones will now be able to fly over urban areas of Japan after the government’s ban on “Level 4” drone flights was lifted, effective yesterday.
Previously, beyond visual line of sight drone flights were only authorized for unpopulated areas like rivers, mountains, and farmland. In the coming months, Japan residents in some towns and city suburbs may begin to spy drones flying overhead even in their own neighborhoods.
This change in lifestyle, however, will be gradual. The policy is expected to be implemented carefully and cautiously both by the government and the drone firms. There will not likely be a large number of drones flying over urban areas for some years yet.
Key missions for the drones are expected to include disaster relief scenarios and package delivery services. In a handful of rural areas, test services have been ongoing for over a year.
As these services gradually make an appearance in urban areas, government regulators are expected to take a stronger hand. All drones in the country must now be registered and all pilots licensed. Relicensing and recertification requirements will be relatively frequent. When serious accidents occur, these will be investigated by the Japan Transport Safety Board under the auspices of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The authorities are also expected to keep an eye on how the Japanese public reacts. If there are early mishaps, especially any accidents which cause injuries to people on the ground, opinion could quickly turn against drone flights over urban areas.
Indeed, in a bit of unhelpful timing, Naha Airport suspended services for ninety minutes over a suspected unauthorized drone flight just hours before the Level 4 ban was lifted. This caused a number of flights to be delayed or rerouted.
Nevertheless, while many people will not welcome seeing drones flying overhead, this change is probably inevitable, driven by technological developments and the economic need to keep pace with other advanced nations. Logistics, inspection, and monitoring systems are expected to increasingly require drone flights in urban areas.
Beyond that, the next step is urban transportation systems for human passengers as well, which is not far behind, and this may gradually reshape urban lifestyles more profoundly.
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