Helisul partners with FIXAR to meet Brazil’s booming BVLOS drone demand

Deployment of drones in Brazil for both business and pleasure is on the rise. But demand is especially strong from Brazilian enterprise users operating long-range, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) surveying, remote sensing, and surveillance missions. To meet those pressing needs, local aviation group Helisul Aviação is partnering with innovative European drone and software developer FIXAR to provide customers valuable long-distance aerial services.

Beginning in March, Helisul will manage the sale, support, and operation of FIXAR 007 drones. The technologically advanced, compact fixed-wing craft boasts over 60-kilometers of flight capacity. That will enable extended BVLOS services for enterprise users in Brazil, particularly those in agriculture, mining, infrastructure inspection activities, and owners of offshore platforms whose missions cover vast areas.

The FIXAR 007 has already demonstrated its endurance and mettle in exacting conditions like high-altitude mountain flights. Yet its Latvia-based developer will soon top that with the FIXAR 025 – a drone with a 10-kilogram payload and astonishing 300-kilometer flight capacity that’s expected to come online later this year.

Awaiting that, Helisul will provide aerial services with the innovative FIXAR 007. The hybrid fixed-wing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) craft can carry a two-kilogram payload for up to an hour at speeds of 20 m/s – around 30% faster than competing craft. 

Its configuration provides the convenience of a quadcopter with the range and efficiency of a fixed-wing drone. That winning combination permits fast and easy takeoffs and landings on any terrain without needing parachutes, catapults, or other accessories, and prolonged mission distances with greater speed and efficiency.

Drawing on its deep experience and qualifications in Brazilian aviation, Helisul will put FIXAR drones’ outstanding performance capabilities to maximum use for enterprise clients.

“As it considered Brazilian partners, FIXAR recognized Helisul’s reputation for safety, quality, and technology in the aviation market,” says head of Helisul’s drone division, Lucas Fontoura, adding his company will also facilitate securing authorization from regulators to operate the craft in exceptional circumstances. “FIXAR also appreciated our experience and unparalleled ability in obtaining certification of drones used, and authorization to fly missions above 400 feet from the National Civil Aviation Agency.”

As the Helisul-FIXAR tandem solidifies its activities in Brazil, the partners will also examine ways expand their drone services work to other nations in region.

“Helisul, with its 50-year experience in aviation, offers everything FIXAR needs for expansion in the Latin American region,” says Yulia Druzhnikova, FIXAR’s co-founder and Director of Global Expansion, who points to Helisul’s excellence in drone training and maintenance as another driver of the partnership. “We are happy to contribute FIXAR’s VTOL drones, designed for advanced missions in challenging environments, to unleash the full potential of the Latin American drone market, and increase safety and efficiency.”

Its entry into Brazil reflects continued efforts by FIXAR to raise the profile of its ground-breaking drone technology in an increasing number of nations around the world – an objective Helisul will help it attain in the country and wider region.

“With this partnership, Brazil joins the USA, Australia, Japan, Korea, and European and African countries playing home to FIXAR distribution centers,” says Helisul’s executive superintendent Humberto Biesuz. “We are investing heavily in this FIXAR-Helisul partnership in order to deliver the best technology, most advanced drones, and safety to Brazilians in collaboration with the National Civil Aviation Agency”.