Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
Main Page: Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (Crossbench - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington's debates with the Department for Transport
(7 years, 9 months ago)
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The noble Lord is right: he pointed out that specific issue, which I have taken up directly with officials. I would ask him also to take part in the consultation. We will be raising his specific point directly with manufacturers.
Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington (CB)
My Lords, I declare an interest as president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the holder of a current commercial pilot’s licence. I flew myself down here—safely—today. There is an answer in relation to controlled airspace around Heathrow and Gatwick. When nobody can go into controlled airspace without authority, surely a quick answer is to prohibit any drones in that area?
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The noble Lord obviously speaks from experience in this area. He will be aware that the CAA has a specific regime around the commercial operation of drones. We are looking at these particular regulations to see how they may be extended. As I said, we have a wide-ranging consultation and we wish to wait for the results of that.