Marching together to ultimately advance individually. Establishing new technologies and business models in the market is rarely manageable alone. A more promising approach is constructive, open collaboration among companies, politics, and science. This mindset is certainly not exclusive to the Hamburg metropolitan region. However, it was almost tangible at the Urban Air Hamburg networking event.

The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is not only the third-largest aviation hub in the world. With its diverse research, funding, and startup landscape, the Elbe metropolis has much to offer regarding the development of unmanned aviation. Among these „location advantages“ is certainly the Windrove initiative under the auspices of the Hamburg Aviation economic cluster. Through various activities and initiatives, the team promotes networking and initiates joint projects.

The information and networking format „Urban Air Hamburg“ has been established as a meeting point that is well-appreciated far beyond the borders of the metropolitan region.

Plans and challenges

One of the two main pillars of the event is the opportunity to network with participants across the entire unmanned aviation ecosystem. The other is the well-planned and well-populated lecture and discussion program. This time, the organizing team structured the event around two key themes: safety and resilience in future airspace, and the journey from vision to market-ready offerings. In both areas, the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) plays a key role as the responsible regulatory authority. In his keynote address, Eric Oehlmann, head of the Department LF19 „Future of Aviation“ at the BMV, therefore outlined a broad thematic arc and provided insights into plans and hurdles on the way to an adequate legal framework that enabl…