Drones have experienced a veritable boom in recent years. Many new business models rely on the use of drone technology. These trends bring many drones into the sky — and with them new challenges in airspace.
The EU has responded to these trends and introduced new regulations intended to increase safety. Drones are now indispensable: in the areas of inspection, acceptance testing, maintenance and servicing, they enable flexible, fast and cost-efficient processes.
EU Regulation (EU) 2019/947
Since 1 January 2021, a large number of new requirements must be met when using drones — including for inspection in wind farms — in order to act in compliance with the law. The requirements are based on an EU-wide regulation by EASA.
Many users assume it is enough to obtain an "EU drone licence" online and then be covered. That is not the case.
CE marking and classification
When purchasing, the drone must have a CE mark and a classification (C0–C4, risk or technical class) — only such products may be flown in European airspace.
The new regulations do not distinguish between private and commercial use. Instead, the EU rules provide for three application scenarios:
- OPEN — standard operation with defined limits
- SPECIFIC — extended operations with a permit
- CERTIFIED — systems requiring type approval
OPEN sub-categories A1, A2, A3
A1
Flight also possible near people. No flight over assemblies of people in the open and no flight directly over uninvolved persons.
A2
Flight only at a safe distance from uninvolved persons (distance at least 30 metres; in exceptional cases, with slow mode, down to 5 metres).
A3
Flight far away from people. No uninvolved persons may be present in the entire flight area. Minimum distance of 150 m from residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas.
The assignment of drone models to A1 to A3 results from the drone class (risk class C0–C4).