RFP QuestBeta
OpenStage · award

Portsmouth City Council

Solent Transport Future Transport Zone - Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Drone Operation Pilot

Value£313k
Deadline
Published20 Mar 2025
RegionNationwide
Who to contact
procurement@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
+442392688235

The procurement contact named on the official notice.

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The brief

Solent Transport - via it's accountable body Portsmouth City Council - intend on entering into a contract with Skylift UAV to provide Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operation to support the Solent Transport Future Transport Zone (FTZ) in partnership with the University of Southampton and funded by the Department for Transport (DfT).

Skylift UAV will provide airspace management, drones and drone operation in accordance with their Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approved Operating Safety Case and within the CAA approved Temporary Danger Area.

This is to support trials that inform how drones could be integrated into airspace in the future and support research into how drones can facilitate medical logistics in the Solent area.

Solent Transport require Skylift UAV to act as Airspace Managers for the Temporary Danger Area for the duration of the trials and provide and operate drone platforms to facilitate Drones for Medical Logistics trials in accordance with the Operating Authorisation, Operating Safety Case and Temporary Danger Area constraints as set out in the Airspace Change Proposal ACP-2022-106.

The commencement of the contract will be 2nd April 2025.

The contract will expire on 1st November 2025 at the completion of all BVLOS trials and reporting.

The value of the contract will be £312,990 excluding VAT.

Prior to entering into contract a 8 working day standstill period will be observed in line with the Procurement Act 23 requirements.

The standstill period will at end at 23:59 on 31st March 2025.

Key requirements

What the supplier must deliver

01

Intend on entering into a contract

intend on entering into a contract with Skylift UAV to provide Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operation to support the Solent Transport Future Transport Zone (FTZ) in partnership with the University of Southampton and funded by the Department for Transport (DfT).

02

Skylift UAV will provide airspace management, drones

Skylift UAV will provide airspace management, drones and drone operation in accordance with their Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approved Operating Safety Case and within the CAA approved Temporary Danger Area.

03

This is to support trials that inform

This is to support trials that inform how drones could be integrated into airspace in the future and support research into how drones can facilitate medical logistics in the Solent area.

Derived from the notice text — always confirm against the original documents.

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Source & provenance
OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04ef7c
Stage
award · Awarded
Source
Find a Tender
Buyer ref
010314-2025
View the original notice on Find a Tender

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source data © Crown copyright.

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