Abu Dhabi-based autonomous aviation company launches certification programme for hybrid cargo aircraft

Abu Dhabi-based LODD Autonomous has launched a formal certification programme with the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) for its Hili hybrid vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) cargo aircraft, moving the programme from development and flight testing into formal regulatory approval. Hili is designed to carry payloads of up to 250 kilograms over distances of up to 700 kilometres, positioning it as one of the longest-range cargo unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) projects in the region. The certification effort will be supervised by the Smart and Autonomous Systems Council, with the GCAA acting as the certifying authority and support from the Integrated Transport Centre (Abu Dhabi Mobility) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) through its Smart and Autonomous Vehicles Industry (SAVI) Cluster.

“The launch of the Hili certification program marks one of the most significant milestones in the evolution of the aircraft and reflects the progress we have made across design, engineering and flight testing. It brings us one step closer to delivering a UAE-developed supervised autonomous cargo aircraft system capable of transforming how critical goods are moved across the UAE, the region and globally,” said Rashid Al Manai, chief executive officer of LODD.

Programme scope and oversight

The certification programme will cover a comprehensive set of approval and validation activities, spanning design approval, airworthiness compliance demonstrations, ground and flight testing, operational evaluations and safety assessments. These activities will be conducted under the supervision of the Smart and Autonomous Systems Council while the GCAA serves as the formal certifying authority throughout the process.

• Design approval activities to validate Hili’s engineering and systems integration
• Airworthiness compliance demonstrations to meet regulatory standards
• Ground and flight testing to demonstrate performance across operational envelopes
• Operational evaluations to assess real-world mission capability and procedures
• Safety assessments to verify mitigations for supervised autonomous operations

LODD Autonomous has positioned Hili to serve a variety of mission profiles beyond basic cargo transfer. The aircraft is intended to support healthcare and medical supply chains, energy and offshore operations, humanitarian response and industrial logistics. The combination of a 250 kg payload capacity and up to 700 km range is intended to enable “middle-mile” logistics that bridge between distribution hubs and final delivery networks, as well as regional cargo transportation where conventional infrastructure may be limited.

Aqeel Al Zarooni, assistant director general for aviation safety affairs at the GCAA, commented on the programme’s role in the national aviation ecosystem: “Advanced aircraft programs such as Hili play an important role in the evolution of aviation and support the safe integration of next-generation technologies into the national aviation ecosystem.”

Outlook

With institutional backing from Abu Dhabi Mobility’s Integrated Transport Centre and ADIO via the SAVI Cluster, LODD’s certification pathway aims to translate its flight-test progress into certified operations. Upon successful certification, Hili is expected to support middle-mile logistics, healthcare supply chains, offshore operations, humanitarian response and regional cargo transportation, enabling new supervised autonomous cargo services across the UAE and potentially into neighbouring markets. The certification timeline will depend on the outcome of planned design approvals, compliance demonstrations and staged testing overseen by the GCAA and the Smart and Autonomous Systems Council.