California-based drone logistics company Matternet has been granted a Light UAS Operator Certificate (LUC) by the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA).

Announced yesterday, this is the first LUC to be issued by the Swiss FOCA for higher-risk “SAIL III” operations, including beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone flights over populated areas.

A LUC licence is the highest and most demanding license that drone operators can obtain to operate in the Specific category in Switzerland; which includes drone flights with a higher risk profile.

With this newly minted licence, Matternet can now authorise its own drone flights within Switzerland and the Federal State of Berlin without prior approval from the aviation authorities; a situation which significantly increases the flexibility and speed of operations.

“We are excited about this certification, which transforms our ability to expand drone delivery operations across Europe,” said Andreas Raptopoulos, Founder and CEO of Matternet.

“Our close collaboration with FOCA has been instrumental in achieving this milestone. With the power to self-authorise routes, we can rapidly grow our networks and deliver essential goods to hospitals and directly to people’s homes.”

This latest milestone builds on Matternet’s earlier achievement of becoming the first company to receive BVLOS authorisation for operations over cities in Switzerland in 2017, paving the way for transporting blood samples by air.

In 2022, Matternet announced plans to launch the first urban drone delivery network.

These achievements further enhance its capacity to deploy innovative drone delivery solutions across Europe and solidify its position as a leader in safe and efficient unmanned aerial delivery.

“Obtaining the LUC required us to demonstrate our robust safety management system to effectively mitigate and manage aviation risks,” said Tom Rehwinkel, Head of Regulatory Affairs EMEA at Matternet, added.

“This certification underscores our commitment to safe and reliable drone delivery operations.”

The latest approval has seen Matternet adding Switzerland to its list of countries where the company can operate in.

It also holds Type and Production Certifications from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), along with BVLOS operational approvals from both the FAA and FOCA, as well as cross-border approvals from Germany’s Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA).

Celebrating its thirteenth year of existence this year, Matternet first properly cut its teeth around 2013, with trials in various countries; which included Malawi, where the company partnered with the government and UNICEF to explore how drones could enhance the efficiency of HIV testing.

The aim of these initial trials was to test the feasibility and efficiency of drone technology in drastically reducing the time it took for road transport to ferry samples to labs.

Before the drones, it would take about eleven days for samples to reach a laboratory for testing in Malawi, and up to eight weeks for patients to receive results, causing delayed access to life saving therapies.