Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe approves Drone Solutions for beyond visual line of sight drone deliveries with the KITE uncrewed aerial system
● Approval follows a regulatory review by CAAZ and Air Traffic Services, a technical clarification process and a live demonstration flight programme
● Operational data from AXIOM, drawn from more than 41,000 autonomous flights, underpinned the safety case
Kite Aero today announces that Drone Solutions International, its partner in Zimbabwe, has obtained approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) to conduct drone delivery operations using the KITE uncrewed aerial system. The approval relates to Drone Solutions’ operations specifications to include beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) delivery, opening the way for commercial drone logistics across Zimbabwe
The approval is the result of sustained work by the Drone Solutions team. Over the period of six months, Drone Solutions took CAAZ and the Air Traffic Services provider through an extensive approval process including the aircraft, its operating manuals, the operational risk assessment and airspace integration procedures for the KITE, and conducted a demonstration flight programme in August 2026.
Kite Aero supported the application with operational evidence generated by AXIOM, its drone operation management system. AXIOM is the system of record for every flight, flight hour and kilometre flown across the KITE fleet. That data, covering more than 41,000 autonomous flights and 20,000 flight hours in Africa, Europe, the Pacific and the United States, gave CAAZ a verified safety record and a proven compliance framework to assess against.
Drone Solutions is Kite Aero’s operations partner for Zimbabwe and the wider region, and operates a
CAAZ-approved drone flight school in Harare. With the CAAZ approval in place, Drone Solutions can
now move from training and demonstration to daily delivery operations, beginning with medical and
pathology logistics between regional health facilities and central laboratories.
“We commend Drone Solutions for their hard work in taking a new category of aircraft through the approval process with a national regulator” said Philip van der Burg, CEO of Kite Aero and AXIOM.
“With AXIOM as the system of record it was easy to support Drone Solutions and CAAZ in the approval process which unlocks a use-case in a new country. Zimbabwe now joins a growing list of jurisdictions where the KITE, powered by AXIOM, is approved to fly BVLOS.”
Under the approval, Drone Solutions pilots plan, authorise, and operate every KITE flight through AXIOM, with the operational risk assessment, flight planning and airspace coordination procedures accepted by CAAZ embedded in the platform. Airframe hours, battery cycles and maintenance are automatically tracked across the fleet, giving both the operator and the regulator a trusted source of core information.
“CAAZ set a high bar, and rightly so. Introducing BVLOS drone delivery into national airspace is a serious undertaking,” said Jeremiah Musabayana, CEO of Drone Solutions. “The regulator and Air Traffic Services engaged with us in detail on operations and airspace management, and the depth of operational data behind KITE and AXIOM allowed us to answer every question with evidence. We are ready to start flying for our customers.”
KITE, powered by AXIOM, delivers proven operational capability for long range drone logistics. Zimbabwe becomes the latest country to approve KITE for BVLOS operations, alongside 24 other jurisdictions across Africa, the UK, Australia, Europe (EASA) and the United States (FAA). It also marks the first step in the expansion plan Drone Solutions and Kite Aero have set out for Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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