Luxaviation provides proof of concept of vineyards drone spraying
18 June 2020
Luxaviation Group, one of the largest private aircraft operators worldwide, headquartered in Luxembourg, successfully developed drone spraying activities of Luxaviation Drones S.A. in the Luxembourg Mosel wine region.
The project for the spraying of Luxembourg vineyards by means of drones, initially launched as a pilot in mid July 2019 in cooperation with Domaine L&R Kox of Remich, sees increasing success with local winegrowers. One year after the launch 7 winemakers joined the project to pioneer this new service, another larger group is actively attending the respective drone spraying flights to familiarize for next season. The achievement provides proof of the operator’s commitment for emerging technologies and the dynamism of the Luxembourg wine sector.
By using the data-driven agri- and viticulture provided by Luxaviation Drones, the today 20 local wine sites (covering the entire Luxembourgish wine region) under operations are achieving higher efficiency and accuracy, reduced erosion, preservation of the environment, reduction of the noise pollution to the neighbourhood and potentially a proven enhancement of the quality of the final product.
Similar to maintaining the highest certification standards in the manned fixed and rotary wing business, Luxaviation is engaged in working with civil aviation authorities to enhance the operations capacity, certification standards and training procedures for drone operations. As of May, experienced pilots, experts in aerial spraying, flew again and started spraying the vineyards with organic phytosanitary products.
Currently Luxaviation is only working with Luxembourg winemakers but the company aims to extend the service to Germany as well.
Christophe Lapierre, President of the Services division of the Luxaviation Group says: “We are impressed by the interest of local winemakers and their willingness to contribute to the enhancement of the service and the capabilities together with us, by investing into unmanned aircraft. This smarter and more sustainable viticulture will provide winemakers an instant competitive advantage on those relying on conventional helicopter usage”.
Following the successful operations during 2019, Luxaviation Group is planning to expand its services to cross-border regions along the Mosel, with evolving regulation in Germany about drone spraying flights.
