Banner Towplanes Over Miami Beach Will Soon Be Replaced by Drones

Sustainable Skylines has received FAA approval to fly the remotely piloted aircraft and will begin advertising in October or November.

Jack Daleo

Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 02:20 PM ET

Verified

A Velary drone tows a Sustainable Skylines banner off the coast of Miami. [Courtesy: Sustainable Skylines]

Key Takeaways:

Sustainable Skylines has received the first FAA approval for commercial banner towing using remotely piloted drones in the U.S.
This drone-based service is presented as a more sustainable, safer, and scalable alternative to traditional airplane banner towing, with significantly reduced fuel consumption.
The company plans to launch operations in Miami Beach, offering new advertising capabilities and analytics, but potentially impacting traditional pilots who use banner towing for flight hours.
Sustainable Skylines aims to expand nationwide and globally, seeking to revolutionize aerial advertising with drone technology.

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For pilots, they’re a convenient way to accrue flight time—for beachgoers, they’re a nuisance. But whatever you think of the banner-towing airplanes carrying fluttering advertisements over U.S. oceans, they’ve got competition.

Miami-based aerial advertising company Sustainable Skylines recently announced it has obtained FAA permission to launch a commercial banner-towing operation. But rather than airplanes, remotely piloted drones will tow the banners.