Frequently asked questions
Here are some tips and advice for those who want to become a drone pilot. If you have any further questions regarding drone training, please contact our drone department.
Select topic:
Open Category
• Operator registration: Yes if MTOM ≥ 250 g or the drone has any camera/sensor (non-toy).
• Remote-pilot certificate:
– Not required for C0 (< 250 g) — pilot must simply read the user manual.
– Required (A1/A3) for C1–C4 drones or any drone ≥ 250 g.
– Extra A2 theory + self-practice if you fly a C2 (< 4 kg) drone close to people.
Minimum age default 16 y (Member States may lower to 12 y for C0/C1).
Altitude Limit:
Fly no higher than 120 m (400 ft) above the ground or water. If you must cross a building/obstacle taller than you, you may climb an extra 15 m with the owner’s consent.
Flying Over People and Vehicles:
• Never over crowds/assemblies.
• With C0 (<250 g) or C1 (<900 g) drones in A1 you may briefly overfly an uninvolved person if you minimise the time overhead.
• All heavier drones: maintain ≥ 30 m (C2) or ≥ 150 m (A3) horizontal separation.
People inside cars/boats count as “uninvolved persons”.
Airports and Restricted Airspace:
Every EASA Member State publishes UAS Geographical Zones (digital maps). Flights inside controlled airspace, military areas, nature reserves etc. require prior authorisation from the relevant authority. Check the geo-portal before each mission.
Required Training and Skills:
For flights under the A1/A3 Open Category, remote pilots must complete at least an online theoretical training and exam. The EASA curriculum includes airspace classifications, meteorology, emergency procedures, drone maintenance, and system operation. For the A2 subcategory, additional self-declared practical training and a separate theoretical exam are required. Drone pilots are therefore expected to understand air law, navigation, emergency handling, maintenance checks, and how remote control and GPS systems function. While simulator training is recommended, it is not mandatory under EASA rules.
EU Regulation 785/2004 makes third-party-liability insurance mandatory only for unmanned aircraft whose MTOM exceeds 20 kg; however, several EASA states apply stricter rules—Germany requires insurance for every drone, Austria demands a minimum cover of 750 000 SDR for all operations, Norway exempts only drones below 250 g (and CE-marked toys), while the Netherlands keeps the EU 20-kg threshold unchanged.
Hobby & Sport Operators
EU UAS Regulation explicitly excludes indoor operations from its scope, so national safety / property rules – not EASA – decide.
C0 drones are exempt from broadcast Remote ID, but any entry into a U-space airspace could trigger network ID via the USSP; ASTM F3411-22A is referenced yet not mandatory for C0.
No. Because the Open rules allow only one UA per remote pilot and forbid flights over assemblies of people, such a large coordinated swarm automatically falls into the Specific category. Until EASA finalises Acceptable Means of Compliance for swarms, each Member State requires an operational authorisation based on SORA or the draft JARUS PDRA-08 template.
No, not in the Open category. A cruise ship is an assembly of people; Open rules forbid over-flight. You would need a Specific-category authorisation (SORA) plus flag-state/port permission.
Aviation rules have not consented answer; wildlife & fisheries laws vary. Possibly yes under A3 Open rules if you stay 150 m from people/boats, use ≤25 kg MTOM and ensure the bait-drop is safe. But national wildlife/fisheries laws may prohibit drone fishing entirely—check local regulations first.
Commercial / Specific-Category
At EU level there are only two Standard Scenarios so far—STS-01 and STS-02 (in force since 1 Jan 2024). STS-02 already covers BVLOS, but only in sparsely populated areas with air-space observers.
EASA has not announced a publication date for any new “urban BVLOS” scenario. Until that happens, every city-center BVLOS flight still requires a Specific-category authorization (SORA or national STS) in each Member State.
Not yet. Fully dock-based BVLOS flights remain in the Specific category: each Member State still requires a SORA (or exemption). EASA’s draft NPA 2024-06 and Opinion 03/2023 outline future rules for Control & Monitoring Units, but these are not adopted, so no EU-wide blanket approval exists.
A 500 kg cargo eVTOL operating over a city is classed as Certified: SORA places it in SAIL V/VI, which by EASA policy requires a type-certificated aircraft, licensed remote pilot and operator approval.
No. CAA Norway states that the function depends on the same C2 link used for normal control, so it is not independent and does not meet enhanced-containment. Operators must fit a C6-labelled drone or an approved independent Flight-Termination System to comply.
Operator Training
Not yet. No rule-making task or Terms-of-Reference exists for an instructor rating; industry Working-Group 2205-1 keeps urging EASA to start one, but the Agency’s TeB/WG list shows no schedule.
None are prescribed. Reg. (EU) 2019/947 requires only self-practical training for A2 (UAS.OPEN.030 (2)(b)); the regulation states no hour minimum, so each NAA may set its own best-practice figure.
Planned, but not dated. Swarm operations sit in draft PDRA-08 (under “PDRAs under consideration” on EASA’s site). Once PDRA-08 is final, EASA has stated it intends to add an AMC training module, but no timeline is published.
No change announced. EASA FAQ still states: “A certificate for Remote Pilot competency is valid for 5 years.” The Agency has only mentioned a “future review”, but no draft rule has been launched.
Manufacturers & Designers
In any U-space airspace, the data feed must follow Annex 4 of ASTM F3411-22A (≤ 3 s update, JSON schema). EASA copied that spec verbatim into its AMC/GM for Reg. 2021/664. Extra encryption rules are still being drafted by EUROCAE WG-105.
Operator can apply under the Certified category using EUROCAE ED-271A (DAA performance) and EASA AI Concept Paper Issue 2 (ML assurance). A “special condition” is issued case-by-case until the dedicated rule package RMT.0731 is adopted.
From 18 Feb 2027 every battery must carry a QR-code “battery passport”. EASA has not yet said how that QR will sit next to the C0-C6 class plate—guidance will come in a later update to Reg. 2019/945.
No. The legal list stops at C0-C6 and there is no active rule-making task to add C7. Industry has proposed it, but nothing is on EASA’s schedule.
