A 4 hr 50 min unmanned flight covering 290 nautical miles has produced what operator Flylogix calls the first civilian cross-border drone mission flown from the UK into Norwegian airspace — and with it, a methane emissions survey of one of the oldest producing platforms on the Norwegian continental shelf.

On 11 July, Flylogix launched a remotely piloted aircraft from Tingwall in the Shetland Islands, crossed the UK–Norway maritime boundary, and surveyed Equinor's Statfjord B platform before returning to base. The mission forms part of the company's ongoing work with Equinor to monitor and measure methane emissions from its North Sea infrastructure.

Regulatory clearance required coordination between UK and Norwegian aviation authorities, Equinor's operational teams, and Avinor ANS, the state-owned air navigation services provider for Norwegian airspace. The flight had to satisfy the regulatory requirements of both jurisdictions.

Charles Tavner, Flylogix's CEO, called the mission "a hugely significant moment for Flylogix and for the wider industry."

"Flying a drone from the UK to survey an asset in Norwegian waters shows that our long running ambition to deliver remote, cross-border drone operations safely has been realised," Tavner said.

He signalled where the company goes next. "Norway has always been a key part of our growth strategy – this flight is the clearest possible demonstration of what that expansion looks like and we will now look to take our pioneering solution further afield."

Tavner also framed the basin as a template: "The North Sea has become a genuine proving ground for our technology and our approach to regulation. Having established what safe, remote drone operations look like in practice, we're now in a position to take that model to other basins that need to tackle their methane emissions."

Avinor echoed the milestone framing. Sindre T Johnsen of Polaris ACC, Avinor ANS, said the operation "has been a valuable milestone for the introduction and integration of uncrewed aviation in the North Sea," while acknowledging the difficulty of the operating environment.

"High standards for operational safety and a harsh environment make this area a challenging task," Johnsen said. "It is also an area where the potential in uncrewed operations is clearly visible. The framework for safe integration of crewed and uncrewed operations is therefore brought forward by accomplishments like this. Close cooperation of Aviation Authorities, Air Navigation Service Providers, Equinor and Flylogix has made this possible."

The asset surveyed

Statfjord holds a singular place in North Sea history. Mobil discovered the field in 1974, and it ranks as the largest oil discovery in the North Sea. First production came in 1979. Operatorship transferred to Statoil — now Equinor — in 1987.

Statfjord B, the platform surveyed in the 11 July mission, sits in the southern section of the field in 145 m of water. The platform was installed in 1982 and started production the same year.

The commercial case

Flylogix positions its low-emission, remotely piloted drones as a safer and lower-cost alternative to conventional aerial survey methods, with a significantly smaller carbon footprint than crewed aircraft performing the same emissions-monitoring work.

For North Sea operators facing tightening methane measurement and reporting requirements, the flight demonstrates that cross-border unmanned surveys of offshore assets are now operationally and regulatorily feasible rather than theoretical.

The watch item: whether the UK–Norway framework established for this mission becomes a repeatable approval pathway, and which basin Flylogix targets next as it scales the model beyond the North Sea.