Aircraft regulation transition: UAS operation conditions

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Under the aircraft regulation transition, UAS not privately manufactured, complying with the product marketing directive (Decision 768/2008/EC), and not belonging to class C0, C1, C2, C3, or C4 may continue to be used if they have been introduced on the European Union market before 1 January 2023 with:

MTOM <250g including payload, subcategory A1 operation

If the MTOM of the unmanned aircraft is <25kg, including fuel and payload, subcategory A3 operation.

UAS to be operated in the ‘open category and not belonging to one of the classes C0, C1, C2, C3, or C4 laid down in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 may continue operating until 1 January 2023 under the following conditions, as set out in Article 22:

(a) If the MTOM of the unmanned aircraft is <500 g, subcategory A1 operation, by a remote pilot who is recommended to be familiar with the manufacturer’s user manual or equivalent document developed by the UAS operator itself;

(b) If the MTOM of the unmanned aircraft is <2 kg, and it is operated at a minimum horizontal distance of 50m from people by remote pilots with a level of proficiency at least equivalent to that corresponding to subcategory A2, it is considered acceptable to hold a basic or advanced certificate by Law 18/2014 or Royal Decree 1036/2017 and to complete a practical self-training statement; and

(c) If the MTOM of the unmanned aircraft is <25 kg, and the operation is conducted in subcategory A3, by remote pilots with a level of proficiency at least equivalent to that corresponding to subcategories A1 and A3, a basic or advanced certificate according to Law 18/2014 or to Royal Decree 1036/2017 being considered acceptable.

Standard scenarios of the aircraft regulation transition

From 31 December 2020 until 2 December 2021, UAS operators will submit operational declarations based on the new national standard scenarios (‘STS-ES’) published by AESA for specific category operations. These operational statements based on national standard scenarios (‘STS-ES’) shall be valid from 31 December 2020 until 2 December 2023.

From 2 December 2021, UAS operators may submit new operational statements based on European standard scenarios (‘STS’) published by EASA to operate in the ‘specific’ category with UAS belonging to class C5 for standard scenario 1 (‘STS-01’) and to class C6 for standard scenario 2 (‘STS-02’).

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