On Tuesday, the government adopted a draft amendment to the Aviation Law Act. The project assumes, among other things, the introduction of three categories of drone operations and the possibility of designating geographical zones in the airspace that limit or exclude such flights.
The draft amendment to the act adopted by the government aims to adapt Polish law to EU regulations that apply to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), i.e. drones and their systems – explained in the press release published on Tuesday. The project assumes replacing the current division into UAV operations of a sports or recreational nature and commercial operations with three new categories of operations: “open”, “special” and “certified”. As stated, the division introduced in the project results from the European Union regulations and was made based on the risk analysis of air operations.
What the new operating categories mean for drones
The open category will be intended for operations performed in visual visibility conditions (VLOS), with the lowest risk. Flights in the open category will have to meet guidelines specifying, among others: permissible take-off masses of UAVs, their equipment, flight speed or distance from individuals and gatherings. Flights in a special category will be strictly defined and may be performed on the basis of a permit issued by the President of the Civil Aviation Office. In turn, flights in the certified category will be possible provided that they have a certified UAV system that has been entered in the register of civil aircraft. Prepared by the Ministry of Infrastructure and published in February this year. The project informed that as of 31 December 2020, the national regulations and procedures of EU Member States regarding civilian users of UAVs have been replaced by EU regulations, including transitional provisions. Therefore, it became necessary to adapt the Act of 3 July 2002 – Aviation Law to the regulations of the European Parliament and the European Commission.
PANSA will designate the zones
The announcement also stated that a new solution would be the possibility of designating geographical zones in the airspace that would limit or exclude operations using UAVs. “The idea is to eliminate threats to security, privacy or the natural environment resulting from UAV operations,” it was written. It was added that the designation of geographical zones will be entrusted to the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA). The new solutions are to enter into force 14 days after their announcement in the Journal of Laws, with the exception of some provisions that will enter into force on a different date.
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