Bulgarian Dronamics, the cargo drone operator, became the first company in the industry to obtain an EU operational license, allowing it to self-authorize flight operations across EU countries.
The announcement comes at a key moment as the company prepares for the first commercial flights of its flagship Black Swan aircraft later this year. Carrying 350 kg at a distance of up to 2,500 km, the Black Swan aims to transform supply chains by making fulfillment more efficient, resulting in cost, time and carbon emission savings, the company said in a statement.
“This is a huge achievement and a testament to the European regulatory framework of being so supportive for the advancement of drones. It gives us the ability to operate within the EU, and now we are going to start those commercial operations later this year”, Dronamics’ CEO and co-founder Svilen Rangelov tells The Recursive.
Dronamics got the license from the Transport Malta Civil Aviation Directorate (TM – CAD), the country’s Civil Aviation Authority, which has also spearheaded aviation innovation efforts in Europe.
Operating commercial flights from Malta and Italy
“Since the initial contact with DRONAMICS, the operational concept, the experienced and passionate team, and above all the company mission, made us believe that DRONAMICS will be the pioneer of a new, safe, and exciting era of the drone cargo long range operation”, Capt. Charles Pace, Director General of Civil Aviation Directorate Transport Malta (TM-CAD) said in a statement.
Dronamics, whose fast-growing team includes top aerospace and logistics experts from around the world, also plans to scale its operations and run its commercial flights out of Malta and Italy later this year. With Malta as its European operations base, Dronamics is also well placed to operate its first routes over the Mediterranean, linking key hubs across the region, the company says.
“With the support of such a sophisticated and technologically advanced regulator, and with Malta as our European operations base, we are well placed to progress our operations and start serving key routes across the Mediterranean later this year and continue our future expansion so that we can achieve our mission to enable same-day delivery for everyone, everywhere.” Dronamics’ COO Sergio Oliveira e Silva said in a statement.
After its first unmanned commercial flights in 2022, Dronamics also plans to fundraise a larger round from a strategic investor. Last year the company also managed to raise €3M in an IPO held on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) small and medium-sized enterprise growth market BEAM, while it also struck a collaboration with Romanian crowd investing platform SeedBlink.
