UPDATED: 8/23/2019

After 6 months of being the preferred UAS Service Supplier of digital airspace authorization in U.S. controlled airspace, we know what LAANC means for your drone business: access, safety, growth, and a future for the drone industry.

That’s why we’re thrilled to report that the FAA has officially announced the nationwide expansion of the LAANC program. Beginning in April, digital airspace authorization will be rolled out to nearly 300 air traffic control facilities representing approximately 500 airports across the United States, opening up to 78,000 square miles of airspace for commercial drone operations.

Compared to the manual waiver process, which has 19 steps and takes up to 90 days to process, LAANC authorization to fly in controlled airspace is easy, digital, and available immediately. Authorization requests are submitted with a tap in the AirMap app and approved in seconds.

The expansion will begin in April, with the FAA releasing a new region each month. View the full list of air traffic facilities participating in LAANC here.

Drone pilots near select airports in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas will be first to get started with LAANC authorization this spring. If you’re in another location, don’t worry! Your state isn’t far behind. The full rollout is expected to be completed by the fall.

You can request digital airspace authorization from the AirMap app, and from our deep linking partners 3DR, Betterview, Converge, DroneDeploy, DroneUp, Measure, and SkyWatch.Ai. (To integrate LAANC authorization from AirMap into your application, learn more here and visit airmap.com/deep-linking to get started.)

For more on the program check out our “Everything you need to know about LAANC” webinar. In it, we discuss topics ranging from the different Part 107 regulations to how to obtain digital airspace authorization using the AirMap for Drones mobile application.