Drones and Data Analytics Set to Transform Highway Inspections in Massachusetts The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Aeronautics Division is teaming up with MassDOT Highway to take highway inspections and maintenance to the next level using drones and data analytics. They’ve applied for a $1 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration’s Accelerated Innovation Deployment […]
The latest in an occasional column on bringing products to market in emerging technologies, by industry marketing expert Amy T. Wiegand: Go-to-Market Propeller. Go-to-Market Propeller is the practical support a growing industry needs – getting from innovation to sales. In this article: the deep dive on discovering product – market fit. by Amy T. Wiegand […]
The global drone show industry is a rapidly growing field, with innovative drone light show companies pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. They’re breaking records for largest drone shows. They’re putting fireworks on physical drones. They’re drawing huge crowds.
So which drone light show companies are the biggest?
SPH Engineering, which builds drone show technology and is also behind the annual International Drone Show Competition, just put out a study that illuminates the biggest drone show companies worldwide. In their “Drone Show Market Analysis” made in collaboration with market research group Duamentes Global Alliance in June 2024, the teams analyzed data from 1,000 drone shows across 62 countries.
They then broke out the biggest drone light show companies by region. Here are those names:
Disney Dreams That Soar. (Photo courtesy of Walt Disney World)
North America is, by many metrics, a leader in drone light shows. With more than 1,000 drone shows documented over the past year, it’s easy to come by a drone show. Just check out our drone show events schedule to find one near you — and it should be relatively easy to find one.
They’re abundant at MLB games and county fairs. And especially in summer 2024, theme parks leaned into drone shows. Most of the best theme park drone shows occurred in the U.S., including CineSational: A Symphonic Spectacular, the nighttime show at Universal Studios Orlando. Meanwhile, the nearby (and free-to-watch) Disney World drone show called “Disney Dreams That Soar” has been drawing unprecedented crowds.
With so much demand comes opportunities for dozens of North American drone light show companies to proliferate. That said, Sky Elements is the biggest. Perhaps not coincidentally, they’re the team that powered my first ever drone show, which was a Star Wars drone show after an Oakland A’s baseball game.
Other big names in the North American drone show market including Pixis Drones and FireFly.
European drone light show companies
The July 14 Bastille Day drone show from Dronisos broke a Guinness World Record for “Largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by multirotors / drones” with this Mickey Mouse shape. (Photo courtesy of Dronisos)
As of June 2024, estimations show there are roughly 50 European drone light show companies. But one dominates the space, with a market share of nearly half. According to the Drone Show Market Analysis, Dronisos makes up 48% of all European drone shows.
Dronisos, which is based in France, is perhaps most famous for working in conjunction with Disneyland Paris. That includes putting on their nightly Disney Electrical Sky Parade show, as well as one-off shows. One of the most notable shows was the July 14 Bastille Day drone show, which broke a Guinness World Record for “Largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by multirotors / drones.” With that, it made a spectacular, tricolor Mickey Mouse head made out of 1,571 drones.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, France also houses the most drone shows per year of any European country, according to the Drone Show Market Analysis.
Other notable names that are still fairly large include UMILES Group and Drone Show Europe.
Asia Pacific’s drone light show companies
Though there are far fewer drone show companies in Asia Pacific versus Europe, none has as dominant of a market share. The biggest drone show company in Asia Pacific is Red Cliff, which is based in Tokyo, Japan. But still, it only claims a 33% market share.
Another big name, DAON, is not far away with a 26% market share. MIRS Innovate is generally considered the third-largest drone show company in Asia Pacific.
Indian drone light show companies
A BotLab Dynamics Show to celebrate Bihar Diwas.
There’s really just one Indian drone light show company to know, and that’s BotLab Dynamics. Based out of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the drone show company has a strong research background. The company uses all in-house products, and has spent more than seven years condugin swarm drone research and development.
Though BotLab Dynamics has little competition within the country of India, it’s still a force in the world. When it set the then-record of hosting India’s largest drone light show with 1,000 drones at Rashtrapati Bhawan (that was in January 2022), that made India the fourth nation in the world to host a drone show of such a large scale.
Middle Eastern and North African drone light show companies
A New Rise Technologies drone show for Formula 1, featuring 2,000 drones, held in Saudi Arabia.
Drone shows in the Middle East are huge — and fabulous. Averaging 401 drones per show, Middle Eastern drone shows tend to be an over-the-top spectacle. Unsurprisingly, the UAE (which is home to famously-flashy city Dubai) holds the title of most shows per year in the region.
There are about a dozen drone light show companies in the Middle East, and the biggest names are New Rise Technologies, Lumasky Drone Show and SKD.
Latin American drone light show companies
Image courtesy of Aion
Drone shows haven’t super taken off in Latin America. There are only about a dozen drone show companies through the region, and the shows they put on are generally pretty small. They average a small 115 drones per show. Contrast that with the massive Asia Pacific shows that average 307 drones, or the Middle East show averaging 401 drones per show!
That said, the Latin American drone show companies showing the biggest potential include Aion, Magic and Pixel Drones.
Ukrainian company Skyeton, which manufactures ACS-3/Raybird-3 reconnaissance systems, has launched production in Slovakia. The company’s founder, Oleksandr Stepura, told Militarnyi that investments in the factory have reached $3.5 million. Tropozond s.r.o., a member of the Skyeton group, has opened a UAS manufacturing facility under the Skyeton brand in Slovakia. This journey began less than two […]
Building Resilience and Innovation in the American Drone Industry Located in San Luis Obispo, CA, Inspired Flight is a leading U.S. manufacturer of industrial drones. Inspired Flight excels at integrating multiple payloads and sensors and features a universal payload interface. It’s flexible platform is used in settings including critical infrastructure inspection, oil and gas, GIS […]
FAA’s Deputy Administrator Outlines Timeline for BVLOS Rulemaking and Plans for Drone and AAM Integration into National Airspace By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill A high-ranking FAA official on Tuesday promised that the agency is on track to meet the scheduled timeline for issuing a final beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) rule by January, […]
After more than five years of largely successful drone operations in the state of Queensland, Australia, Wing’s drone delivery operations are finally expanding to a different Australian state. Wing, the drone delivery arm affiliated with Google, announced in July 2024 that it is headed to the Melbourne area. That makes Wing’s first operations in Victoria, Australia.
The Wing deliveries in Victoria will be available to certain homes in the greater-Melbourne area. Given the radius upon which Wing will operate in Victoria, this will mark Wing’s largest approved delivery area in Australia to-date.
For the Melbourne deliveries, Wing will continue to partner with DoorDash. The Wing partnership with DoorDash first took off in November 2022 in Logan, Australia. Logan, a city in Queensland, has been one of the primary sites for Wing’s Australian operations thus far. Through it, eligible customers can place orders for certain, drone delivery-eligible items directly through their DoorDash apps.
The rooftop of the Grand Plaza Mall in Logan, Australia. Photo courtesy of Wing.
The new Melbourne expansion will follow a similar model of drone deliveries already happening at the Grand Plaza Mall in Logan City, Australia. It’s called a store-to-door model. With it, Wing establishes what it calls its “drone nest” with a store or shopping center. From there, drones directly depart from that store or shopping center — rather than from a separate warehouse. (Here’s a deep dive into how Wing’s deliveries from the shopping mall rooftop work.)
With its Melbourne expansion, Wing will place its first Nest at the Eastland Shopping Centre, which is located in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Ringwood, Victoria, Australia. Considered the fourth-largest shopping centre in Australia, it has more than 340 retail stores and services. The location will unlock drone delivery access to more than 250,000 Melbourne-area residents.
That large of an area — and that many potential customers — means more reliance on autonomy. In turn, that means less reliance on humans. Wing says its Melbourne operations will have a 50-1 drone to pilot ratio, meaning a single pilot to oversee up to 50 drones in the air at any given time. That’s a 3x increase over Wing’s prior drone delivery approvals.
Wing drones outside of a Walmart store. (Photo courtesy of Wing)
In a July 2024 statement, Wing called 2024 “the year of drone delivery.” And it very well may be.
Other recent Wing drone delivery expansions this month have included a partnership between Wing, Apian, Blackrock Health, St. Vincent’s Private Hospital, Medtronic. With that, those companies are working on a drone delivery trial of all sorts of medical supplies and devices to hospitals around Dublin. Though, that one is a fairly small test, with only about an estimated 100 flights weekly.
And over in the U.S., Wing is also growing. Following news that Walmart would integrate drone delivery directly into its own Walmart app, Wing has officially launched service from two Texas Walmart locations (stores in Arlington and Fort Worth). With that, Wing and Walmart now offer drone delivery from six locations to homes in more than a dozen localities across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Early this year, Wing also brought that DoorDash partnership that first kicked off in Australia over to Christiansburg, Virginia. With that, eligible residents who order specifically from Wendy’s via DoorDash can opt to get a Frosty, Baconator or other Wendy’s order delivered via drone.
Of course, Wing isn’t the only company growing its drone delivery offerings this year. Also this month, we got critical deals about a planned Amazon drone delivery offering in Arizona’s Phoenix metro area. Amazon is also currently working on efforts to expand its existing College Station, Texas drone deliveries.
The DroneUp Ecosystem. (Photo courtesy of DroneUp)
And even smaller players are innovating big. For example, DroneUp pioneered a compelling new Ecosystem platform in 2024. That platform involves standalone units (about the size of two parking spaces) serving as mini package takeoff and delivery centers. DroneUp can place these basically anywhere throughout a city. From there, where customers can pick up their drone-delivered packages without actually touching the drone itself.
Global player in the aerospace industry Thales, and Garuda Aerospace have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the development of the drone ecosystem in India. This collaboration aims to foster innovation and to advance the development of technological solutions that can enable safe and secure drone operations and help the growth of drone-based […]
The US Air Force will put the Next Generation Air Dominance program on hold for a few months in order to see whether it is “on the right course” with the fighter that was intended to replace the F-22, Secretary Frank Kendall said July 30. However, all other aspects of air superiority modernization are moving […]
