Comment: Drone highway could be a lifeline for Scottish islands

Online retail giant Amazon has been testing drone deliveries. Picture: Contributed

IT sounds like something one might find in California's 'Silicon Valley' rather than on the wild and often windy west coast of Scotland.

But the world’s first dedicated “droneway” will see the remotely controlled aircraft cross from the mainland to Stornoway on the island of Lewis. Telecoms experts hope to show that, with the use of established routes, drones can travel safely alongside commercial aircraft.

Current Civil Aviation Authority safety guidance severely restricts the potential of drones, which could be used to make emergency deliveries - perhaps, for example, of medicines - to remote places.

If those trialling the 25-mile-long droneway above The Minch are successful, they will open up new horizons. Drones already have multiple military uses, from reconnaissance to carrying strikes, but their potential is yet to be fully realised. The benefits to remote communities of drone use could be life-changing.

And the benefits to Scotland of being the trailblazer in the use of this technology are potentially huge.

We hope this trial is a great success.