Volatus Aerospace stock rises on FAA approval

Shares of Volatus Aerospace (Volatus Aerospace Stock Quote, Chart, News, Analysts, Financials TSX:VOL) are up today after the company received authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration for commercial agricultural aircraft operations using drones.

Drones operated by Volatus provide data that helps farmers manage crops. The company has also introduced heavy agricultural drones that can tackle what the company calls “precision spraying”. Volatus’s technology uses near-infrared and red edge wavelengths to identify plant that are low in chlorophyll and can do this over thousands of acres in a single day. The use of drones for agricultural spraying was cleared by Transport Canada in July of 2017.

“By continuing to align our drone operations with our commercial aircraft and helicopter operations, we are building confidence with global regulators,” CEO Glen Lynch said. “This has allowed Volatus to obtain numerous special approvals for operations requiring Beyond Visual Line of Sight flights, higher altitude flights and heavier aircraft operations not currently covered by today’s regulations both in Canada and the United States. Each authority allows us to increase our service offering and generate greater revenues using advanced drone technology.”

Toronto-based Volatus provides integrated drone solutions in North America and globally, with business in the civil, public safety and defense markets and including imaging and inspection, security and surveillance, equipment sales and support and training as well as R&D, design and manufacturing.

At press time, shares of Volatus were up 4.5 per cent to $0.115.

Disclaimer: Volatus is an annual sponsor of Cantech Letter