Following drone manufacturer Holy Stone’s use of C1 EU class identification label on the HS720E GPS aircraft, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has provided an update on the market availability of drones with C0-C6 labels.
According to EASA, the presence of a class identification label on a drone available to buy today does not guarantee its compliance to Regulation (EU) 2019/945 (R945) that comes into effect on January 1, 2023.
Drones compliant with the new European regulations are expected to appear on the market only toward the end of 2022.
More specifically, EASA says it will not be possible to have compliant drones of classes C1, C2, and C3 in the EU markets until “at least” March 2022. This is because the procedures necessary to demonstrate their conformity have not been determined yet.
The agency explains:
The absence of standards supporting the requirements of R945 until at least the end of the year makes it difficult for…
