By love-89.com As the low-altitude economy continues to grow, drones are increasingly being utilized across various sectors, including agriculture, public safety, surveying, and transportation. This burgeoning demand has significantly elevated the need for skilled drone operators. A representative from a drone training institution in Shenzhen shared that, since the beginning of this year, many businesses have approached their organization to seek training for drone-related positions.
Lin Tingting, the head of recruitment at a drone training institution in Shenzhen, stated, “Currently, fields like instructor roles, power line inspections, smart city systems, and aerial surveying are particularly in demand, with salaries ranging from 8,000 to upwards of 30,000 yuan.”
The spike in student enrollment can be attributed to two main factors: the widespread application of drones across industries and the new regulations implemented on January 1st, which govern the management of drone flight. As per these regulations, aside from lightweight and micro drones that can operate under 120 meters in uncontrolled airspace without a flight license, operators of small, medium, and large drones are required to obtain the appropriate civil aviation licenses to fly legally.
According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, as of June this year, there are 1.875 million registered drones nationwide. In the first half of this year alone, nearly 608,000 new drones were registered, marking a 48% increase compared to the end of last year. However, only over 225,000 individuals possess drone operator licenses, an increase of just over 30,000 from December 2023, indicating that there is a significant talent gap in this field—estimated at around 1 million positions needing to be filled.
This talent shortage has also invigorated drone training institutions, which are witnessing a surge in demand for instructors. Within one such training center in Shenzhen, the curriculum includes training for various types of drones, such as multi-rotor, fixed-wing, vertical takeoff and landing, and unmanned helicopters. Drone pilots are typically categorized into two levels: visual line-of-sight pilots and beyond visual line-of-sight pilots, with a noticeable interest in the latter, particularly those seeking to obtain senior pilot licenses.
The institution’s staff noted that this year, the organization has experienced rapid growth in training services, with many instructors being assigned to different companies for on-site training. The influx of students has consequently increased the demand for instructors. The training center’s management highlighted that becoming an instructor requires over 100 hours of pilot experience and at least two years of work experience. To mitigate the current shortage of instructors, they are continuously scouting and nurturing potential instructor candidates from their student pool.
Looking ahead, on October 12, 15 cities—including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Hangzhou—collaborated with several state-owned enterprises to announce plans for a nationwide low-altitude comprehensive operation platform and the establishment of 100 industry benchmark demonstration projects.
Industry experts pointed out that low-altitude applications require ground network signals to extend up to several hundred meters high. Currently, over 330 cities across the country have initiated the deployment of the latest 5G-A networks, creating what will be the world’s largest low-altitude communications network.
With the rapid development of the low-altitude economy, a critical question arises: how can safety be ensured during flights? The second China Aviation Conference, spanning three days and commencing on October 25, focused on this important issue. A representative from the Civil Aviation Administration emphasized that safety is a fundamental requirement for the development of the low-altitude economy. They plan to leverage new technological innovations to integrate flight service support systems, ensuring the development of this sector is secure and reliable.
Hu Zhenjiang, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration, stated, “We need to utilize new technologies to enhance our predictive capabilities in safety operations and improve monitoring and management throughout the entire lifecycle of the aircraft, thereby significantly elevating our emergency response capabilities. The challenge of ensuring low-altitude flight safety is a global issue. As the scale of low-altitude flying grows exponentially, only by constructing smart new infrastructure, intelligent support systems, and advanced regulatory frameworks can we truly achieve monitored, avoidable, and controllable low-altitude flight.”