A1, A2, A3: what actually separates them
The ‘open’ category is divided into three subcategories. People assume they classify drones; in reality they classify PROXIMITY TO PEOPLE. That proximity decides which aircraft you are allowed to use, and not the other way round. The C0 to C4 labels used here are the classes the manufacturer marks on the class identification label; the next card details them one by one.
Key points
- A1: flying close to people. You may end up over uninvolved persons, but never over an assembly of people. Aircraft: class C0 and class C1.
- A2: flying near people. A horizontal distance of at least 30 metres from uninvolved persons, reducible to 5 metres when the low-speed mode is active. Aircraft: class C2. It is the only one of the three that requires an additional examination.
- A3: flying far from people. At least 150 metres from residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas, and no uninvolved person endangered within the range where the aircraft is flown. Aircraft: C2, C3, C4, and also C0 and C1, which EASA’s GM1 UAS.OPEN.040(4), non-binding guidance material, admits there because A3 encompasses A1; a C1 then flies with direct remote identification and geo-awareness active and up to date.
- In A1 the difference between C0 and C1 is real: with a C0 under 250 g, overflying an uninvolved person is not prohibited; with a C1 you must avoid it and, if someone enters the area, reduce the overflight time as much as possible.
- An assembly of people may never be overflown, in any of the three subcategories.
The trap. The reflex to unlearn: ‘my drone is a C2, so I fly in A2’. No: a C2 flies in A2 or in A3 depending on the place and on whether you hold the A2 certificate. The subcategory describes the flight you make, not the manufacturer's box.
A diagram goes with this card: see it in the We Drone app.
Source
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 (CELEX 02019R0947, consolidated on 01/05/2025), Annex Part A, points UAS.OPEN.020, UAS.OPEN.030 and UAS.OPEN.040; GM1 UAS.OPEN.040(4) (ED Decision 2022/002/R)