The Israel Civil Aviation Authority granted the permit in the past few days.

The company said that in the past few days, the Israel Civil Aviation Authority had granted the permit for missions of protection and security for industrial facilities in which the drones can be operated from within special command and control rooms.

The system developed by Airobotics is likely to save personnel costs, training for teams in operating the drones, and so on. The computer-based system works according to the varying needs of the party operating it.

The system has been tested for the past two years, during which rigorous trials on the drones were conducted mainly in order to test their safety. The trials, during which thousands of flight hours were logged by the company's drones, were attended by Civil Aviation Authority representatives.
Airobotics cofounder and CEO Ran Krauss said today, "The company has completed a long process that began in 2013. The approval obtained from the Civil Aviation Authority is a milestone for us. We expect this milestone to revolutionize the global market and pave the way for future automated drone applications."

Airobotics’ drones are marketed for use in site surveying, security and other industrial applications. Allowing these drones to fly sans operator means that companies can run inspections for miles along power lines, train tracks or acres of farmland, for example, without humans positioned along the route or token interruptions for point-checks.
The startup’s self-flying, quadcopter drones launch and land from a base station where they can swap out spent batteries for newly charged ones. Running for 30 minutes at a time, Airobotics drones can launch and precisely land themselves. Proprietary software and on-board sensors enable them to navigate, avoid obstacles and complete planned missions without the intervention of a human operator.
So-called “beyond visual line of sight” capabilities are not unique to Airobotics’ drones. Parrot company SenseFly SA in Switzerland, aerospace giants Boeing via their Insitu Inc. subsidiary, and Heliscope in partnership with Scoptio in Denmark are among companies already safety-testing these systems. In the U.S., the state of North Dakota has given Harris Corporation permission to develop and test its BVLOS systems.

However, Airobotics is the first to successfully commercialize truly autonomous drones in the private sector. Its drones can also land within a tight space, which is more unique among drone manufacturers and operators.
The company raised $28.5 million in venture funding last year from investors including BlueRun Ventures, and ex-Googlers including Noam Bardin, the former chief executive of Waze, and Richard Wooldridge, formerly the chief operating officer for Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects.

 At this rate, it seems self-flying drones will be circulating in the skies long before are commonplace on our roads.