Wing is in the second year of trialling its business model in Canberra and the Queensland city of Logan, using an app to assist the delivery of food, drinks, medicines and hardware from retailers that have signed on to the scheme.

With airlines about to restart international flights, drones and other low-level aircraft are crucially poised to markedly disrupt the way Australian airports operate.

The use of low-level airspace is rapidly evolving, driven not only by technological advancements but social change.

Uber announced plans to make Melbourne one of its global trial cities for its aerial taxi service - but it has sold its business, so its plans are unclear. On the other hand, Ascent is partnering with EVE Urban Air Mobility, the Singapore-based subsidiary of the airframe manufacturer Embraer, to launch air taxis in Melbourne by 2026.

We will soon see high volumes of electric vertical take-off air taxis, cargo delivery drones, and driverless ground vehicles operating in Australia, especially at airports and other transportation hubs.

Unused airport car parks will make way for aerial taxi landing facilities, and these new users will operate in a very different way and scale, pushing the limits of existing air transportation management.

The Australian government has recognised this, and has released its National Emerging Aviation Technologies (NEAT) policy outlining the aviation disruptions the nation needs to prepare for in the coming decade.

At the moment, remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) are classified by size and type. Civil Aviation Authority safety rules govern how they are controlled, requiring authorisations and a licence depending on the craft's size and use.

As newer drones and other vehicles emerge, regulators and the aviation industry will need to work together to implement unmanned traffic management systems that ensure a safe, scalable and open ecosystem to foster and support these changes.

Think of Australian airspace as a multi-level department store.

The top floors are occupied by commercial aviation, broken into two major types of airspace: controlled, and uncontrolled.

Controlled airspace in Australia is actively monitored and managed by air traffic controllers - the department store's concierges.

To enter the levels of controlled airspace, an aircraft must first gain a clearance from an air traffic controller.

Uncontrolled airspace has no supervision by air traffic control. Most light aircraft and helicopters operate outside or underneath controlled airspace. Pilots are often not visible to air traffic control, but must still follow visual flight rules or instrument flight rules.

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Controllers provide a Flight Information Service and Traffic Information Service to aircraft flying on instrument flight rules, and on request to aircraft flying on visual flight rules. The main objective is providing a separation assurance service to prevent conflict between aircraft operating in the system, and to organise and expedite the flow of traffic.

As well as being broken into controlled or uncontrolled airspace, Australian skies are further sectioned into different classes, where internationally agreed rules apply for visual flight and instrument flying.

Enhancing this system is System-Wide Information Management (SWIM), a global air traffic management industry initiative to harmonise the exchange of aeronautical, weather and flight information to maximise situational awareness for all airspace users and stakeholders.

It is based on a service-oriented architecture, and provides structured messaging formats and information management and security standards to ensure that aviation information is shared with the required quality and timeliness in a secure environment.

Back closer to our department store's ground floor, we are on the cusp of an exciting new era of airspace use.

It's a bit like being in the department store's building management room, where the operator has realised that the rules need to change to accommodate newer vehicles and their capabilities.