When it comes to the maintenance of airports, there is no room for error. A run down airport can lead to disastrous circumstances. Just under 7 miles southwest of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada is the Red Deer Regional Airport. A small airport that mainly caters to charter flights and general flights. In 2015 the airport announced a $9.5 million expansion that would include an extended runway capable of supporting large aircraft like an AirbusA320 or Boeing 737 Max. Since the initial announcement, much has been done to upgrade the small airport. Recently they began a $2.6 million project to refurbish the runway. In an effort to see that the project maintains the highest standards, Red Deer airport is enlisting the help of some drones.

Red Deer Airport has employed Aerium Analytics to conduct drone inspections of the runway refurbishment. With its headquarters in Alberta, Canada, Aerium specializes in using drones for data collection and analysis, mapping, wildlife management, and more for airports, forestry, and energy companies. They have run over 1,000 successful UAV flights. Aerium began providing services for airports in Canada and the US in 2017. These services include operations support, infrastructure and maintenance analysis, obstacle limitation surface surveying, construction observation, and wildlife management. With the exception of wildlife management, all of these services pretty much go hand in hand for an airport like Red Deer looking to make improvements.

The drones used by Aerium provide airports with real time data using LiDAR, geospatial data, and imagery data to compile resources to adequately maintain airport grounds. For Red Deer, this means using the drones to collect data on the runway. This data will be used to spot any potential problems like cracks or abnormalities. It is critical that the new runway is in optimum condition to withstand the weight of the larger aircraft Red Deer hopes to soon support. “We believe this technology represents the future of airport asset management,” said Red Deer Airport CEO Graham Ingham, “and we are very excited about partnering with Aerium Analytics to help develop new and innovative technologies, and increase airport safety.”

Enabling Aerium to fulfill this partnership comes from funding by SkySensus ITB, a company with the goal of furthering commercial UAV developments. With this round of funding and the experience of working with Red Deer Airport, Aerium hopes to expand its data collection capabilities. For now, they will be overseeing and analyzing the runway construction project. Together with SkySensus, Aerium plans to take the data collected to establish an Automated UAS Airport Solutions program. By using drones, airports can gather the necessary information in a timely manner. For many situations, this information needs to be collected repeatedly to meet safety standards. To do this manually is no longer practical which is why SkySensus decided to create an Automated UAS Airport Solutions program.

As air travel continues to grow, making sure that airports are up to date is sure to become a daily process. As Aerium Analytics VP of Operations Jordan Cicoria said, “Through our projects with various airports across North America, we have identified a need for timely, reliable, and accurate method of runway inspections that would aid airport operators with project planning, and regulatory compliance.” Drones are perfectly positioned to provide the means of maintaining safe airports regularly and rapidly.