SEPI Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales

• The State Civil Aviation Safety (AESA) authorizes Grupo TRAGSA to operate Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) for works of a technical and scientific nature

As a result of the development of the R&D project GT RPAS, and after meeting all the requirements set by the Spanish Agency for Airspace Safety (AESA) for that purpose, Grupo TRAGSA has received the authorization for operating its own drones for the technical or scientific works which it carries out on Spanish territory.

In 2015 it has carried out a technological surveillance program and an assessment of the resources available in the market, and it has purchased the flight equipment and the sensors which best fit the requirements identified within the group, with the aim of testing this technique.

At the moment, the Company has at its disposal two rotatory-wing platforms and visible camera, thermal imaging and multispectral. Furthermore, training has been provided to several employees, and test flights have been made in order to guarantee the safety of the declared operations.

Grupo TRAGSA as operator of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)

All of the above has allowed the Research and Development team to prepare and submit to the AESA the documentation required for accrediting Grupo TRAGSA as an RPAS’s operator. Among that documentation, mention must be made to the “Operational Handbook” and to the “Aeronautical Safety Report”, two reference documents which will allow the introduction of this kind of technology within the company and which, along 2016, will be adapted to the Group’s official norms.

This acknowledgement by AESA allows to Grupo TRAGSA to perform activities with drones according to the authorized terms and conditions, and, among others, to the following activities:

• R&D
• Aerial photography, films and mappings
• Instrumental research and reconnaissance
• Aerial watch and surveillance, and
• Emergency, search and rescue operations

Previous experiences with drones within the field of the R&D project:

Pilot trial: Use of drones for the follow-up of forest fires de drones

TRAGSA and Grupo SEPI

TRAGSA belongs to Grupo SEPI, a corporate holding which includes a total of 16 state-owned companies in which it has direct, majority shareholding participations, with a final workforce of around 73,000 professionals in 2014; the Spanish state-owned television and radio corporation, Corporación Radiotelevisión Española, which is attached to SEPI, and one public foundation. Equally, SEPI has direct minority shareholdings in a further ten companies, and indirect shareholdings in more than one hundred companies.