Skyports acquires Redbird Aero

Above: (left to right) Alex Brown and Scott Wheeler.
Courtesy Skyports

The acquisition marks a significant milestone for both companies, signifying Skyports’ official entry into the Australian market and advancing uncrewed aviation in Australia, building on Redbird Aero’s strong foundation.

With this expansion into Australia, Skyports is set to apply its expertise in Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) to improve healthcare access and strengthen supply chain resilience across rural and remote regions. Moreover, it will expand its automated drone inspection services that simplify difficult, time-consuming and dangerous jobs, such as linear asset inspection, waterway monitoring and real-time surveillance.

Since its inception, Redbird Aero has been dedicated to improving healthcare access and delivering life-saving services to rural, remote, and Indigenous communities. A key part of this effort has been focusing on bringing large cargo RPAS (>150 kgs) to Australian skies through regulatory development, operational innovation, and strategic partnerships. By working closely with aviation regulators, government agencies, and healthcare providers, the drone operator has been at the forefront of enabling safe, scalable, and sustainable drone logistics that can support Australia’s most challenging environments.

Skyports expansion continues on the back of ACS Group’s Series C investment into Skyports last year. ACS Group has a strong Australian presence through subsidiaries CIMIC, CPB Contractors, Sedgman, Pacific Partnerships, Leighton Asia and Thiess. Skyports is already working with several of these ACS Group companies to launch construction monitoring and asset inspection drone services, with first flights scheduled to commence in June 2025.

Alex Brown, Director of Drone Services, Skyports, commented: “As an Australian I’m incredibly excited to be expanding into the Australian market. The potential for drone delivery and inspection services in Australia is huge due to its unique geography. We’ll be bringing our proven delivery and inspection services and existing customer partnerships to Australia. Thanks to the great baseline built by Scott and Redbird Aero we hope to expand rapidly into the market, with our first flights starting within weeks.”

Scott Wheeler, Founder and former CEO of Redbird Aero, who through the acquisition now joins Skyports as Head of APAC, Drone Services added: “I’m thrilled to welcome Skyports to the Australian RPAS market. Skyports’ extensive experience and attitude to safety make it the ideal partner to fulfil Redbird Aero’s mission in helping, serving and protecting people in regional and remote parts of Australia.”