A drone hovers over green crops Photo: 123RF
Commercial drone operators say they are still waiting far too long for certifications by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) despite efforts at the agency to shorten the time taken.
It can take up to a year for an application to be approved, they say.
That is down on the 18 months it has taken in the past, but the CAA admits it is still not fast enough.
Certification from the CAA is needed for drone pilots flying over the likes of infrastructure and property or when operating a large drone.
"Our problem is those certificates take up to 12 months to approve," Agricultural Drone Association president Craig Simpson said.
Simpson, who is also managing director of Aerolab, told Nine to Noon this was "a disaster" in a country that was best suited to commercial drone use because of its terrain.
He said drones were a solution to quad bike and vehicle deaths and injuries on steep ground.
Simpson said there were also economic concerns.
"The fact we can't get enough people flying drones in New Zealand is a real barrier to growth."
He told Nine to Noon the CAA had mis-read demand and could not attract enough people to process the applications.
The delay meant people were not getting into drone flying and not utilising the technology in the way they should, Simpson said.
CAA responds
New CAA director Kane Patena told Nine to Noon he was the first to accept the CAA was "still not where we need to be".
"We have made some good progress over the last 12 months, it [the wait] was 18 months at one point, the latest that I've heard from the team is that it is taking four to six months now, so there has been a significant improvement."
He said getting the timeliness of certifications and licences "under control" was a strategic priority for the CAA.
Patena said the CAA had brought more people into it but it needed to "keep going hard at that".
"The things that I've got in mind are: Are there opportunities to use AI? Are there opportunities to automate? And are there opportunities to standardise the process?" He said.
"There will be some cost to implement some of these changes but if it results in better efficiency in how we operate, if it reduces the time that businesses have to spend on it, less time having to navigate our bureaucracy and more time spent on how they grow their business, that's a good outcome.
"And I think we can do that without compromising the safety and security standards," he told Nine to Noon.
The Aviation Industry Association said drones are one of the aviation sector's fastest growing areas.
Its chief executive, Simon Wallace, told the Nine to Noon the CAA had some very antiquated procedures and it needed to improve its processes.
He said the sector wanted a reset in the CAA.
"It's not just drones that are taking a long time for an application to be processed, it's a new helicopter or a new fixed-wing aircraft. We do need the CAA to improve these processes and I think the actions flagged last week around having a more nimble environment, actually taking away paper processes and using more online would really help in that process," he said.
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