Passenger drones in Hong Kong? Expert says laws ‘very limiting’ amid calls to follow mainland China’s lead on commercial use to boost tourism
- Industry leader Andy Yeung says current laws ban flying of drones beyond sight of pilot, which restricts use of autonomous devices
- Lawmakers urge city to follow mainland’s lead to use drones for delivering goods and carrying passengers, touting tourism opportunities
The legislation governing drones in Hong Kong restricts opportunities for wider commercial use, an industry leader has said, amid calls from lawmakers to further develop the market for the devices to help boost tourism and the economy.
The chairman of the DNT FPV Drone Association Hong Kong, China, Andy Yeung King-sheung, also known as Sky Yeung, outlined the restrictions on Friday after lawmakers urged the city to take reference from mainland China in using uncrewed aircraft for delivering goods and even carrying passengers.
Yeung agreed that the potential for such drone services was huge but the city’s related legislation was “very limiting”.
He highlighted the ban on operating drones beyond the sight of their pilot. Yeung said the relaxation of such rules was crucial if the city wanted to operate autonomous drones, which were already being used on the mainland.
“If everything needs to be controlled manually and surveilled by a person, it would not be cost effective,” Yeung told a radio show.
“If the city’s law doesn’t allow [full autonomous use then] when we use drones for logistics purposes it is not possible to get a person to monitor the device all the way and have a visual observer for continuous observation,” he said.
Yeung added it would be difficult to expand the current use of drones in the city if the government did not update the law.
