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UK CAA publishes updated Future of Flight BVLOS drone roadmap
Discover how the UK CAA’s BVLOS Roadmap is paving the way for routine drone operations and Advanced Air Mobility. Learn what it means for your business.
UK CAA publishes updated Future of Flight BVLOS Roadmap;
The Authority details operational BVLOS pathways to help unlock the full potential of drones;
It focuses on Atypical Air Environments, Low-level urban, and fully-integrated BVLOS;
heliguy™'s training and regulatory specialists can help support your route to drone BVLOS adoption.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) has published its updated Future of Flight BVLOS Roadmap - with the aim of enabling routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight drone operations in the UK by 2027.
The plan - CAP3182 - sets out operational pathways to unlock the full economic and societal potential of drones.
'Expanding BVLOS capabilities is a critical step toward scaling innovation, accelerating industry growth, and transforming how UAS contribute to public and commercial services,' the Authority says.
The strategy document focuses on three key BVLOS pathways: Atypical Air Environments (AAE), Low-level urban, and fully-integrated BVLOS.
'We have ensured the roadmap is robust, ambitious, and aligned with market needs through engagement with government and industry,' states Sophie O'Sullivan, Director, Future, Safety and Innovation, at the UK CAA.
The CAA emphasises that the path to routine BVLOS isn’t a 'big bang' overhaul, but rather an iterative progression, enabling drones to integrate safely and routinely into UK airspace, without the need for 'special provisions' or 'segregated airspace'.
Setting out its vision, the CAA states that a principal driver is to enable routine BVLOS drone operations for key government priority use cases - including the NHS, emergency services, infrastructure surveying, and commercial delivery operations - with capability delivered iteratively between now and 2027.
The intention is also to have a regulatory framework and operational systems in place that enable initial commercial passenger AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) flights in the UK by the end of 2028.
The roadmap builds on 'ground-breaking trials' already being undertaken by UK companies conducting drone delivery and inspections, the CAA says.
Delivery approach principles
The Future of Flight BVLOS Roadmap presents the operational scenarios that are available to enable industry to carry out BVLOS UAS operations from today to 2027 and beyond.
To facilitate the delivery of a 'hugely complex combination of new infrastructure and regulatory frameworks', the CAA has implemented four delivery approach principles.
Segregation is a stepping stone towards integration: Enabling operations in segregated airspace is part of the process to generate learnings to inform policy iterations.
Develop policies iteratively: Develop and publish interim ConOps to allow industry to scale; both policy and operations start to mature hand-in-hand.
Outcome-focused for industry: Defined use-cases for industry to demonstrate iterative progress and provide the necessary feedback mechanism to develop policy.
Developing operational pathways: Using pathways to enable tactical flying allows the gradual scaling of operations, leading to sustained growth and safer regulation for new users
This phased approach means operators should be ready for change, commit to evolution, and build capability that aligns with emerging regulatory frameworks.
The three core BVLOS pathways
The CAA breaks the drone market into seven pathways - two VLOS and five BVLOS. The document focuses on three BVLOS pathways:
Atypical Air Environment (AEE).
Integrated Low-level BVLOS Over Urban Area.
Fully-integrated BVLOS.
The table provides more detail.
Atypical Air Environment (AAE) | Integrated Low-level BVLOS Over Urban Area | Fully-integrated BVLOS |
|---|---|---|
BVLOS operations in airspace in close proximity to specific ground infrastructure (within AAE) | BVLOS operations integrated with other airspace users in low-level airspace (<500ft AGL) over populated areas. | BVLOS operations integrated with other airspace users in all airspace. |
• Linear infrastructure inspection e.g. power lines, railways, wind turbines • Security and surveillance • Agriculture (e.g. crop spraying) | • Last-mile deliveries (to end customer) e.g. medical supplies, pathology samples, consumer goods • Inspection | • Emergency air services • Offshore asset inspection •Middle-mile deliveries (between warehouse / distribution centres) |
The other two BVLOS pathways are Non-military state aircraft, and Test & Evaluation operations.
Roadmap for BVLOS operational scenarios
The UK CAA has set out the following roadmap, presenting the operational scenarios that could be available on each of the three core operational pathways from today to 2027 and beyond.
The Authority says that enabling these scenarios is subject to industry demonstrating the capabilities that meet the relevant regulatory policies.
1: Atypical Air Environments
Now to 2027 - Atypical operations with single operator: Example operations include inspection on railways, seeding farmland, perimeter patrols.
2027 - Atypical operations with multiple operators: Example operations include multiple and consecutive operations on the same length of railway.
2028 and beyond - AAE definition continually reviewed: This means over time, it may be possible to operate Atypical in more locations and greater volumes.
2: Low-level Urban
Now to 2027 - Single operator with bespoke entry conditions: Shift from bespoke entry conditions to increasing reliance on Con Ops/Policy Concepts to mitigate risk. Example operations include last-mile delivery operations or between hospitals in a TRA (Temporary Reserved Airspace) or TMZ (Transponder Mandatory Zone).
2028 - Multiple operators in controlled airspace: Example operations include multiple last-mile deliveries over an urban area, and small packages delivered over longer distances. No longer requires a temporary airspace structure.
Beyond 2028 - Multiple operators in uncontrolled airspace: Example operations include multiple last-mile deliveries in villages, and small packages delivered over longer distances.
3: Fully-integrated
Now - Segregated operations: Example operations include offshore monitoring in a TDA (Temporary Danger Area).
2027 - Specific volumes with bespoke entry conditions: Example operations - TRA & TMZ for maritime operations.
2028 - Operations in controlled airspace: Example operations include point-to-point freight deliveries. No longer requires a temporary airspace structure.
Beyond 2028 - Operations in controlled and uncontrolled airspace: Example operations include middle-mile logistics across the UK. No longer requires a temporary airspace structure.
heliguy™ BVLOS regulatory support
The Future of Flight: BVLOS Roadmap from the CAA presents its updated plan to unlock routine, safe, BVLOS operations across the UK’s airspace.
The document sets out this vision: 'Working closely with industry and living by our delivery approach principles, we will enable increasingly more BVLOS operations, safely, in the UK to 2027 and beyond.'
heliguy™ has a training and regulatory division to help organisations grasp this opportunity and integrate BVLOS. This support includes helping you obtain permissions through UK SORA, backed by real-world operational experience.
Receive support from a team that has already secured BVLOS permissions to operate DJI Docks in an Atypical Air Environment. We can also offer multiple pathways to help you unlock BVLOS drone-in-a-box operations - we can manage operations for you, help you obtain your own permissions, or offer a hybrid approach.
For more details, contact us.
