The UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) sector is expanding rapidly. Drones are very promising not only from an economic point of view but also for other uses, in particular medical, because they do not depend on road traffic. skeyes is a major player in the development of U-space, the European framework for the deployment of complex drone operations in airspace.
20,699
drone flights were authorised via the Drone & Aerial Activities (DAA) application in 2025. These authorisations concerned drone flights in skeyes-managed CTRs as well as in the Kortrijk RMZ.
+26%
increase in the number of drone flight authorisations compared to 2024.
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skeyes has been officially certified as a Common Information Service Provider (CISP). It is the first organisation in Europe to have an operational, automated and interactive platform for real-time data exchange between manned and unmanned aviation.
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The last flight under the BURDI project (BeNe U-space Reference Design Implementation) coordinated by skeyes took place in September 2025. The objective was to implement a U-space airspace concept capable of hosting complex drone operations in controlled, uncontrolled and urban air mobility environments.
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In November 2025, skeyes and several Belgian airports suffered operational repercussions due to reports of unauthorised drones. skeyes has a drone surveillance system that allows, in case the threat is proven, to trigger the procedure for unauthorised drones. To complement its drone risk management activities, at the end of 2025, skeyes received its first multi-sensor drone detection test infrastructure.
Regarding the BURDI project, skeyes, SkeyDrone, the port of Antwerp-Bruges and many other partners have joined forces to create a flight zone covering the 120km² of the port where BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) operations are carried out. Drone flights are operated from a single control centre and pilots therefore have no direct visual contact with the aircraft in flight.
BURDI was a pioneering project and succeeded in establishing a reference framework for good practices, standardisation, harmonisation and interoperability requirements, in order to support the operational deployment of U-space airspace across Europe.
120km²
46
safety-related events concerning unauthorised drone flights were recorded in 2025.
24
of these events were related to the wave of drone intrusions in the perimeter of the Belgian airports affected in November 2025.
