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Drones Open Category
The Open Category is the main reference for most recreational flights and all low-risk commercial activities.
It is divided into three differentiated subcategories depending on the type of operation to be carried out.
The three subcategories are known as A1, A2 and A3, which can be summarized according to EASA as follows:
- A1: flight over people but not over crowds.
- A2: flight close to people
- A3: flight away from people
To create each of the subcategories, EASA has made a risk pre-assessment and has set the limits that operators must follow in order to fly. Among these, we will find the pilot training requirements, safety distances and the type of drone that can be used in each subcategory. For this, the new Class Label has been created, where you will find more info in the following article: Drone Class Label.
For this reason, in the Open Category, before going out to fly, it is important to identify in which subcategory we will classify the operations that we want to carry out and thus know what standards and requirements we must comply with.
Below you will find a tool that will help you classify your operations.
Let’s start to analyse the subcategories of the Open Category:
Open A1 Category
Open A2 Category
Open A3 Category
In addition, apart from the operational restrictions of each of the subcategories, the need to comply with the requirements for flight in controlled airspace and the specific coordination requirements of each specific location must be considered.