TCS Demonstrates Drone Transport at Its Headquarters
18.11.2025 | from Touring Club Suisse (TCS)
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18.11.2025, The Federal Office of Civil Aviation has granted TCS an expanded operational permit for the use of cargo drones in densely populated areas. As a result, TCS Drone Operations Services (TCS DROPS) can now offer transport flights with payloads of up to 40 kilograms throughout Switzerland, including urban areas, as demonstrated by the transport of solar panels at its headquarters in Geneva. In June, TCS DROPS conducted inspection flights in Blatten.
Since spring of this year, TCS Drone Operations Services (TCS DROPS) has been offering services in the drone sector, specifically transport flights for loads up to 40 kilograms, as well as inspection missions. Until now, these flights were only permitted in sparsely populated areas with a population density of 300 people per square kilometre. The Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) has granted the Touring Club Switzerland an expanded operational permit for the use of cargo drones in densely populated areas. This allows transport flights to take place across Switzerland, including urban areas.
"Through constant exchange with the drone industry, FOCA promotes and supports innovative and sustainable projects. To ensure the highest safety standards, we verify compliance with EU regulations by drone operators," comments Nicolas Kestens, drone expert at FOCA.
"The permit is an essential step for us in the further development of our drone business," adds Jürg Wittwer, Director General of the Touring Club Switzerland. "Vertical mobility will play an important role in the coming years."
On Monday, TCS DROPS demonstrated its capabilities in an urban environment with the transport of solar panels to the roof of the TCS headquarters in Vernier near Geneva. These panels complement modules already installed earlier. The energy generated is used to cool office spaces during the warm season and for ventilation systems and heating pumps in winter.
**Efficiency Gains and Solutions for Challenging Operations** Cargo drones can facilitate construction projects by replacing and supplementing scaffolding and cranes. Due to the precise positioning of transported loads, they also save time, for example, when installing solar systems on rooftops. At the same time, the positioning of the modules is more flexible than when using a crane and less dependent on the distance from the road or pre-prepared crane sites. In logistics, new possibilities are emerging, especially for transport in remote mountain areas or ecologically sensitive regions.
**Proven in Disaster Response after Rockslide in Blatten** Following the devastating rockslide in Blatten, TCS Drone Operations Services systematically documented all remaining standing buildings using a newly developed digital platform, under the leadership and commissioned by the Earthquake Damage Organisation (SOE). The precise drone imagery aids insurers in processing claims.
TCS Drone Operations Services developed the offering in collaboration with the TCS Mobility Academy.
**Press Contact:**
Vanessa Flack, Media Spokesperson TCS
Tel. 058 827 34 41
vanessa.flack@tcs.ch
pressetcs.ch
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Image rights: Touring Club Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzero - TCS
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Touring Club Suisse (TCS)
Since its founding in Geneva in 1896, the Touring Club Switzerland has served the Swiss population. It is committed to safety, sustainability, and self-determination in personal mobility, both politically and socially. With over 2000 employees and 23 regional sections, Switzerland's largest mobility club offers its more than 1.6 million members a wide range of services related to mobility, health, and leisure activities.
Every 70 seconds, assistance is provided. 200 patrollers are on Swiss roads each year with about 361,000 missions, enabling immediate onward travel in more than 80% of cases. The ETI Centre organises approximately 63,000 assistance operations annually, including 3,500 medical clarifications and over 1,300 repatriations. TCS Ambulance is the largest private actor in emergency services and patient transport in Switzerland, with 400 employees, 22 logistics bases, and around 45,000 missions a year. The legal protection offices handle 52,000 cases and provide approximately 10,000 legal consultations.
Since 1908, TCS has been advocating for increased safety in mobility, made possible through membership. It develops educational materials, awareness and prevention campaigns, tests mobility infrastructures, and advises authorities. Each year, TCS distributes about 115,000 reflective belts and 90,000 reflective vests to children to ensure their mobility is safe. The driving centres train and educate 42,000 participants across all vehicle categories annually.
With 32 sites and approximately 900,000 overnight stays, TCS is also Switzerland's largest camping provider. The TCS Mobility Academy researches and shapes transformations in transport, such as drone vertical mobility or shared mobility, including the 400 electric cargo bikes "carvelo" and 43,000 users. TCS is a co-signer of the Roadmap Electromobility 2025.
Note: The "About Us" text is taken from public sources or from the company profile on HELP.ch.
Source: Touring Club Suisse (TCS), Press release
Original article published on: TCS demonstriert Drohnentransport an seinem Hauptsitz