Sustainable Skylines Secures first-ever FAA authorization for Drones to Tow Full-Size Advertising Banners 

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Walker Robinson

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Sustainable Skylines has been awarded the first-ever authorization by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for drones to tow full-size advertising banners. This decision is the result of a decade-long campaign for regulatory approval for utilizing drones in aerial advertising. Advert-towing drones are safer, more environmentally friendly, and more flexible than their traditional manned airplane counterparts.

Sustainable Skylines, an industry leader in full-size drone advertising banner towing operations, will launch their banner towing drones over Miami Beach, Florida. Leveraging computer vision, data analytics, and real-time flight footage Sustainable Skylines offers their advertising clients actionable insights into how to best utilize their advertising. With the benefits of drone-towed advertisements, they hope to lead a more sustainable and effective approach to aerial advertising in the 21st century.

The company has an exclusive partnership with drone manufacturer Velary, makers of both small and passenger uncrewed vehicles.

“Banner advertising is another exciting example of the new opportunities that commercial drones bring to our economy, while enhancing the safety of the National Airspace System,” said Lisa Ellman, chair of the Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) practice at global law firm Hogan Lovells, which facilitated Sustainable Skyline’s FAA approval. “Sustainable Skylines is reinventing an old industry with a new technology and delivering exponential value through the use of safe, clean drone technology that can scale, entertain and create new jobs, too.”

There are risks associated with traditional manned banner towing planes that the use of drones would minimize. While crashes and mishaps are uncommon in the industry, drones would further reduce risk to people on the ground and fully eliminate risk to the pilot.

Unlike airplanes, drones can take off vertically, removing proximity to a runway from the constraints of advertising. This opens up new, previously unutilized advertising space, where there is no runway available. It would also open up valuable runway space at often overcrowded metropolitan airports.

Drone banner towing also offers a more sustainable approach to aerial advertising. The drones have a smaller carbon footprint than their plane counterparts. And armed with the real time data-analytics, they can make a more targeted and efficient use of their flight time. This equates to more eyes on an advertisement with less time required in the sky.

Although this is the first FAA Authorization for full-size banner towing drones, there are likely to be more in the coming years, as the benefits of drones make them an attractive and sustainable method of advertising in the sky.

“This is a significant milestone for Sustainable Skylines and the broader drone industry, explained Jacob Stonecipher, founder and CEO of Sustainable Skylines. “Our team has worked tirelessly toward this regulatory approval; we wouldn’t be here without the guidance of Lisa Ellman and her team at Hogan Lovells. We’re excited to work with our partners to safely launch and integrate banner advertising by drone into the local airspace and community.”

Read more:

• FAA Grants Flight Over People Waiver to Advertising Company Civitasnow
• Inflatable Drone Offers Possibility of Aerial Advertising
• Drone Banner Ads Take Marketing to a Higher Level
• Draganfly, PromoDrone Partner on Starling x.2 Drone: Critical Messaging, When and Where Needed

Walker Robinson is a 2022 Graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara with a passion for renewable energy and emerging technologies. An early career professional experienced in both sales and development of residential and utility-scale renewable energy systems, he is delighted to be part of the drone industry.