First LUC in The Netherlands issued to Terra Drone Europe
Terra Drone Europe is the first Dutch company to receive the Light Unmanned Certificate (LUC) in The Netherlands. A LUC can be issued by the National Aviation Authority to a professional Drone Operator after having demonstrated it operates under an approved safety management system according to the specifications of EASA and that it is able to carry out risk assessments to the required standards (SORA). One of the advantages of operating under a LUC is the ability to conduct operations covered by standard scenarios without submitting a declaration and the permission to self-authorise operations covered by a PDRA. The LUC is valid in all EU Member States.
“Receiving the LUC is of great importance to our company. It confirms the safety and quality standards we maintain and allows us to further improve the level of services to our customers. We very much appreciate the constructive feedback from and cooperation with the CAA-NL during the process”, according to Terra Drone Europe’s Managing Director Martijn Hoogenstraaten.
The application for the LUC started in January 2021, days after the new EU regulation came into force. The entire process from preparation to obtaining the license took over a year and a half of solid work.
Terra Drone Europe’s Quality and HSE Manager, Pieter Franken, says” The process was long and arduous as we were the first company to apply, it was also new to the Dutch CAA and many hurdles were taken together. Some elements of the new EU regulations were still under development when we applied for the LUC”.
About Terra Drone Europe
Terra Drone Europe is part of the globally operating Terra Drone group and is a leading provider of geographic data acquisition, industrial inspections, and high-end aerial imagery, using unmanned aircraft systems. Experts in their field, Terra Drone Europe has extensive knowledge about and experience in Close Visual (CVI) and thermal inspections, geodesy, topographic surveying, LiDAR, and 3D visualizations.
The company was founded over 10 years ago and was the first Dutch company to secure the exemption for flying UAS commercially in 2013, the first Dutch UAS pilot license (RPA-L) in 2015 and the first UAS license (ROC) for The Netherlands in 2015.