UK – A2 Certificate of Competence use post 31 December 2022

Following the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) consultation on whether to extend the legacy and transitional provisions for drones operating in the open category, and after a formal decision from the Department for Transport (DfT), it has been decided that the transition and legacy provisions will now be extended to 1 January 2026. This time will allow for the CAA and DfT to conduct a review of regulations for unmanned aircraft, including the open category to ensure it is properly regulated in a way that is fit for purpose for the UK prior to 2026.

The DfT will also be changing UK regulations so that European Union (EU) class marks on drones will not be recognised in the UK after 1 January 2023. Drones with EU class marks will still be able to be flown in the UK after that date in the Open and Specific categories but may not make use of the class mark provisions in the A1, A2 and A3 subcategory.

The DfT will formally publish these changes to UK Regulation (EU) 2019/947 and UK Regulation (EU) 2019/945 in December ahead of them coming into effect before January 2023.

The CAA website and guidance material will be updated to reflect the changes later this month and more information is available in our requirements for flying in the open category publication

Holders of an A2 Certificate of Competence that references transition and legacy period dates of 31 December 2022, may continue to use these privileges until either the expiry date of the certificate, or the end of the new transition/legacy period (on 01 January 2026) whichever is sooner. A re-issue of the certificate is not required.