BEIJING, Nov 18 — As the demand for drone pilots increases in China, more and more workers are signing up for remote pilot certificates in hopes of riding the new trend.

SCMP reported that demand for those certificates has risen to the point training centres are struggling to find enough instructors.

Shenzhen-based Global Hawk UAV Co’s founder Yu Jingbing told SCMP, "The number of trainees we’ve received so far this year has been well above that for all of last year, and we expect the whole year’s number to be double last year’s.”

Yu said that he was facing a shortage of instructors for all the would-be students.

Piloting medium-sized drones beyond visual range is part of China’s new low-altitude economy, with drones being used in various fields including logistics, power inspection, aerial surveying and even tourism.

The term low-altitude economy generally refers to manned and unmanned activities within an altititude of 1,000 metres.

It is currently facing a shortage of workers, roughly around 1 million skilled workers, said National Development and Reform Commission vice-chairman Li Chunlin at a news conference last month.

Only 225,000 people were licenses to operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the end of June this year but over 2 million UAVs had been registered by the end of September.

China has mandated that operators of UAVs, including small, medium-sized and large drones must have civil avilation licenses except for if they fly lightweight models below 120 metres in unrestricted airspace.