Proposed Amendments to Acceptable Means of Compliance and Guidance Material for UK Regulation (EU) 2019/945 and UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947

Updates to Operating conditions

Allow C1/UK1 UAS (class-marked UAS weighing 900g or less) to overfly uninvolved people in the A1 sub-category (for flying over people).

Enable the use of legacy UAS (non-class marked UAS placed on the market before 1 January 2026) in the A2 sub-category after 1 January 2026, under the same restrictions as today if the remote pilot has A2 Certificate of Competency, the UAS weighs <2kg and is flown a minimum horizontal distance of 50m from uninvolved people.

UAS operating in the A3 sub-category to keep a minimum distance of 50 metres horizontally from uninvolved persons. To keep a minimum distance of 150m to residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas. Individual buildings separated by at least 50m from other buildings that are not considered to be an area. The minimum horizontal distance to individual buildings shall be at least 50m.

References to the new operating conditions have been made throughout the AMC and GM.

Remote ID

Introduce a requirement that UAS must be remotely identifiable during flight, by requiring active and up to date Direct Remote ID functionality (the requirement for a UAS to locally communicate identification and location information during flight) for UK0 weighing 100g or more with a camera, UK1 to UK3, UK5 and UK6 class-marked UAS.  

In the Specific Category, operators should have active and up to date direct Remote ID functionality, unless exempted under an Operational Authorisation issued by the CAA under Article 12 of UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947.  

From 1 January 2026, the Direct Remote ID requirement should be implemented by operators in respect of UK1, UK2, UK3, UK5 and UK6 UAS.  

From 1 January 2028, the Direct Remote ID requirement should be implemented by operators in respect of UK0 UAS weighing 100g or more with a camera, model aircraft unless exempted through an Article 16 authorisation, privately built UAS weighing 100g or more with a camera, and legacy UAS weighing 100g or more with a camera. 

Use of EU class-marked UAS in the UK

Enable UAS that have been class-marked under EU regulations to be used in the Open category, in the same sub-categories as UAS with equivalent class-marking under UK regulations until 1 January 2028. UAS that are class-marked according to the European Union and that comply with the requirements of EU Regulation 2019/945, Annex Parts 1-5 and bearing a class label C0, C1, C2, C3, or C4 can be used in the UK under the following conditions before 1 January 2028:

• In the Open category, subcategory ‘Over People (A1)’, following the requirements of UK Regulation 2019/947 Part A, point UAS.OPEN.020, if the UAS is marked with a C0 or C1 class label. 
• In the Open category, subcategory ‘Near People (A2)’, following the requirements of UK Regulation 2019/947 Part A, point UAS.OPEN.030, if the UAS is marked with a C2 class label.
• In the Open category, subcategory ‘Far from People (A3)’, following the requirements of UK Regulation 2019/947 Part A, point UAS.OPEN.040, if the UAS is marked with a C2, C3 or C4 class label.

From 1 January 2028, these UAS fall under the category of legacy UAS if not retrofitted with a UK class label and have to follow requirements and provisions of UK Regulation 2019/947 Article 20. 

Completion of Open Category online training

The ‘Flyer ID’ online training course and test must be completed by Remote Pilots of UA with a mass of 100g or more operating in the Open category. This training will help UA operators better understand and comply with the regulations.

Rename operational sub-categories

Operational sub-categories will be renamed to reflect the key operational differences between each sub-category and help users better understand UAS regulations. The new sub-categories will be renamed to:

• Over People (A1)
• Near People (A2)
• Far from People (A3)

References to the new subcategory titles have been made throughout the AMC and GM.