Classes C0 to C4
The five classes marked by the manufacturer set what an aircraft is allowed to do. They rise by mass, and each step closes a door. Remembering the thresholds beats remembering the special cases: the examination asks about thresholds.
Key points
- C0: less than 250 g at take-off, maximum speed 19 m/s. Flies in A1 without training or examination, and also in A3: EASA’s GM1 UAS.OPEN.040(4) admits C0 there, A3 encompassing A1. But in A3, the online training and the A1/A3 examination required by UAS.OPEN.040(3) apply, whatever the class.
- C1: less than 900 g OR energy transmitted to the human head of less than 80 J: the text sets out an alternative, not a single threshold, and an aircraft of more than 900 g remains C1 if it holds the 80 J. Maximum speed 19 m/s. Flies in A1, without overflying uninvolved persons, and in A3 under the same GM, with direct remote identification and geo-awareness active and up to date.
- C2: less than 4 kg, fitted with a low-speed mode. Flies in A2 (with the A2 certificate) or in A3.
- C3: less than 25 kg, maximum characteristic dimension of less than 3 m. Flies in A3 only.
- C4: less than 25 kg, with no automatic control modes, save for two exceptions the text names: flight stabilisation assistance with no direct effect on the trajectory, and lost link assistance. This is the model-flying class. Flies in A3 only.
- A privately built UAS may fly in A1 if it weighs less than 250 g at take-off and does not exceed 19 m/s, and in A3 if it stays under 25 kg.
The trap. The mass that counts is the mass AT TAKE-OFF, battery and payload included: not the empty mass in the catalogue. A camera or a bigger battery crosses a threshold, and with it the subcategory.
A diagram goes with this card: see it in the We Drone app.
Source
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 (CELEX 02019R0945, consolidated on 24/06/2025), Annex, Parts 1 to 5; Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 (CELEX 02019R0947, consolidated on 01/05/2025), Annex Part A, points UAS.OPEN.020(5), UAS.OPEN.030(3) and UAS.OPEN.040(4); GM1 UAS.OPEN.040(4) (ED Decision 2022/002/R)