Drone training spikes as sector expands

Amid a more standardized market environment and rising demand, drone operation training is booming, offering organizations and individuals new business and job opportunities.

Shortly after a new public order ordinance took effect nationwide on Jan 1, intensifying the crackdown on unlicensed drone flights, China's largest drone operation training center, Global Hawk UAV, based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, hosted its first license examination for civil drone pilots for the year, drawing record participation.

The monthly test, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, attracted more than 1,600 candidates from over 130 drone training schools in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the highest in the center's history.

The candidates ranged from young people looking to explore emerging drone applications in logistics, surveying, and film, to farmers hoping to use drones to modernize agriculture, and hobbyists seeking to fly drones safely under new regulations.

The theory portion of the test covered rules and regulations, weather knowledge, flight principles, and emergency procedures. The practice portion took place at a 60,000-square-meter flight base atop a mountain, where candidates completed tasks such as figure-eight maneuvers, precision landings, and emergency return drills.

Licenses include visual line-of-sight operation, mainly for delivery services; beyond visual line-of-sight operation, for surveying and inspections; and instructor certification.

Yang Minghao, a 28-year-old assistant instructor at Global Hawk UAV, previously worked for an online content platform. With the growth of the low-altitude economy, he moved from Sichuan province to Shenzhen to study drone operation and earn multiple certifications, hoping to take advantage of the trend to find more diverse job opportunities.

Boosting the low-altitude economy is a key goal of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), and drones are increasingly used in logistics, inspections, emergency responses, and cultural tourism. The country faces a shortage of drone operators, estimated at up to one million.

Yu Jingbing, founder of Global Hawk UAV, told reporters on Wednesday that between 2014 and 2024, 273,300 drone operator licenses were issued nationwide. In 2025 alone, he estimates 350,000 to 400,000 new licenses were issued.

Currently, all commercial drone operations require certified pilots. According to the latest data released on Tuesday, the total number of registered drones nationwide has exceeded 3.28 million. Yu estimates that at least 1 to 1.5 million of these are used for commercial purposes.

With the implementation of the revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law on Jan 1, which increases penalties for illegal drone operations, Yu expects license applications to continue rising this year.

bingcun@chinadailyhk.com