The DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) share price is up 12.5% during trading today after the company made an ASX announcement prior to market open. DRO shares opened at 26 cents per share this morning, but have since risen to around 27 cents (at time of writing) on news that DroneShield has been accepted for membership into Airports Council International (ACI) Europe. ACI Europe represents over 500 airports across 45 countries in Europe (including all major European airports).
According to DroneShield:
ACI Europe leads and serves the European airport industry and maintains strong links with other ACI regions throughout the world. ACI Europe membership is comprised of airport operators of various sizes, along with national airport associations, educational establishments and world business partners.
The members work together in an active association to ensure effective communication and negotiation with legislative, commercial, technical, environmental, passenger and other interests. The association's members facilitate over 90% of commercial air traffic in Europe, accounting for 2.3 billion passengers, 21.2 million tonnes of freight and 25.7 million aircraft movements in 2018.
DroneShield also notes that it is "the only counterdrone company that has been accepted for membership in ACI Europe."
Droneshield's CEO Oleg Vornik also stated that:
As the drone threat to airports increases, DroneShield is excited to work with ACI Europe member airports to help mitigate this threat… Our drone detection and mitigation products are a rapidly growing necessity for airports globally, and DroneShield having been accepted as the sole counterdrone provider into this top tier group illustrates that.
DroneShield develops drone security solutions that aim to protect individuals, organisations and critical infrastructure from drone-based intrusions and attacks. Based in Sydney, it also has offices in Washington, Virginia and London.