Open Skies for Unmanned Aircraft in Europe: An Outlier or a New Approach?

Abstract

Commission Implementing Regulation 2019/947 and Commission Delegated Regulation 2019/945 contain, inter alia, the detailed rules and procedures for the operation of unmanned aircraft. The rules were developed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency with the goal of ensuring a high level of safety for all unmanned operations as the number one priority. The two regulations, in addition to providing safety-based rules rooted within the European aviation safety acquis, can also be seen as a set of rules providing access to the single European sky for both EU and third-country operators. This article will analyse the relevant access to the airspace articles in both regulations in order to show how they facilitate unmanned aircraft operations; how they deviate from the typical modus operandi of manned aviation rules; and what the wider consequences are for both manned and unmanned aviation. Unmanned Aircraft, Access to the Single European Sky, Open, Specific and Certified Category, Competent Authority, Cabotage, Tenth Freedom of the Air