BLOG POSTS
Drone Open & Specific Summary for 2024
The European regulation will be applied at an increased level starting on January 1, 2024, requiring the use of class-certified drones for open category flying and the use of C5 and C6 drones for the European STS-01 and STS-02 scenarios.
Below you will find a table showing the requirements for each of the Open and Specific flight categories and their respective scenarios.
| Category | Subcategory | Class Type of drone1 | Operational Characteristics | Pilot Training | Operator Registration | Remote ID3 | Flight Rules | Flight Height | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPEN | A1 | Class C0 (< 250 gr) | Over uninvolved persons, but never over assemblies of people | Advised, but not required | Only when the UAS is capable of capturing personal data (e.g. video, audio) | Not Required4 | VLOS | Max 120 m | |
| Legacy2 / privately built < 250 gr | Not Required4 | ||||||||
| Class C1 (< 900 gr) | Not over uninvolved persons, but if it happens accidentally, the pilot have to fly away from the persons as soon as reasonably possible | Required: A1/A3 | Required | Required | |||||
| A2 | Class C2 (< 4 kg) | 1:1 rule (vertical flight height – minimum horizontal distance to uninvolved persons), but always at a horizontal distance of at least 30 meters from uninvolved persons. | Required: A1/A3 + A2 | Required | |||||
| A3 | Class C3 (< 25 kg) | At a minimum horizontal distance of 150 meters from residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas | Required: A1/A3 | Required | |||||
| Class C4 (< 25 kg) | Not Required4 | ||||||||
| Legacy2 / privately built > 250 gr but < 25 kg | Not Required4 | ||||||||
| Category | Subcategory | Class Type of drone1 | Operational Characteristics | Pilot Training | Operator Registration | Remote ID3 | Flight Rules | Flight Height | |
| SPECIFIC | STS-01 | Class 5 (<25 kg) | Over a controlled ground area which may be situated in a populated area. | Required: STS-01 | Required | Required5 | VLOS | Max 120 m | |
| STS-02 | Class 6 (<25 kg) | Over a controlled ground area which is entirely located in a sparsely populated area and up to a maximum range of 1 km from the remote pilot (2 km with airspace observers) | Required: STS-02 | BVLOS | Max 120 m | ||||
| PDRA-S01 | UA dimension < 3 m | Over a controlled ground area which may be situated in a populated area | Required: Equivalent to STS-01 | VLOS | Max 120 m (150 m with additional requirements) | ||||
| PDRA-S02 | UA dimension < 3 m UA MTOM < 25 kg | Over a controlled ground which is entirely located in a sparsely populated area and up to a maximum range of 1 km from the remote pilot (2 km with airspace observers) | Required: Equivalent to STS-02 | BVLOS | Max 120 m (150 m with additional requirements) | ||||
| PDRA-G01 | UA dimension < 3 m Impact Energy < 34 kJ | Over a sparsely populated area and up to a maximum range of 1 km from the remote pilot (no range limit with airspace clearance, but never further than 1 km from the nearest airspace observer) | Required: In accordance to UAS.SPEC.050 | BVLOS | Max 120 m (150 m with additional requirements) | ||||
| PDRA-G02 | UA dimension < 3 m Impact Energy < 34 kJ | Over a sparsely populated area and in airspace that is reserved or segregated for the UAS operation | Required: In accordance to UAS.SPEC.050 | BVLOS | In reserved or segregated airspace | ||||
| PDRA-G03 | UA dimension < 3 m Impact Energy < 34 kJ | Over a sparsely populated area and in atypical airspace (e-g- max 30 m above obstacles whose height is below 20 m or max 15 m above obstacles whose height is above 20 m) | Required: In accordance to UAS.SPEC.050 | BVLOS | In atypical airspace | ||||
| 1. See the List of Certified Drones for a list of class drones that are currently available. | |||||||||
| 2. Any drone that was put on the market prior to January 1, 2024 and does not have a class label is considered a legacy drone. Drones that are not class labeled and are released onto the market after January 1, 2024, are prohibited from being used in the Open category. | |||||||||
| 3. Drones in the class for which Remote ID is necessary are by default Remote ID compliant. The operator must still ensure that the Remote ID system has received the UAS operator number, though. 4. By default, remote ID is not needed. Nonetheless, Member States have the authority to designate specific areas where the installation of a remote identification system is mandatory for all drones. Be aware that not all drones will support Remote ID. Add-ons might be necessary. 5. Remote ID is required for all drones in the Specific category. Drones classified as C5 or C6 automatically comply with Remote ID. Keep in mind that some drones might not support Remote ID if they lack a class label. Add-ons might be necessary. | |||||||||