The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a consultation on reforms to the UK’s airspace change process, a key part of the UK’s wider programme to modernise airspace that will in time facilitate the safe integration of new and innovative types of aircraft with other airspace users.
The consultation outlines proposals to streamline and improve the timeliness of how airspace proposals are developed and decisions are made, while ensuring the process remains transparent and evidence-based. The regulator is seeking views from a wide range of stakeholders on these proposals.
One of the proposals relates to the development of a proportionate scaled process that would enable the establishment of short-duration volumes of segregated airspace for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations.
Specifically, the CAA is seeking views on developing a new process within CAP 1616 that would enable the establishment of short-duration volumes of segregated airspace.
This process would enable BVLOS UAS operations of low impact on stakeholders and of short duration; be activated for up to 24 hours within a 7-day period (allowing for weather); and allow flights between 8 am and 8 pm only. After the 7-day period the CAA would not approve any other application under this process in the same location for at least 28 days. The process would only apply outside controlled airspace at low level (below 500 feet) and only apply to drone operations in the Specific Category.
Users of this process would separately be required to complete a Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) as part of their application process for permission to fly. The CAA proposes that the SORA “generates the line(s) on the map and the buffer(s) required to enable the operations and airspace design to be safely segregated”. The CAA would use this information to design and publish an airspace structure. “We propose that this would be the only input to the design,” the authority states in the consultation document. “Where identified and required, the CAA may undertake limited engagement with impacted aviation stakeholders. We believe that this would be proportionate to the proposed operations.”
The CAA says a proportionate approach to enabling BVLOS flights in the UK is needed to support the government’s priority of realising the economic growth benefits of new technologies and the joint Department for Transport and CAA future of flight strategy.
The consultation will run for 12 weeks, closing on 18 December 2025. Full details and information on how to respond are available on the Civil Aviation Authority’s Citizen Space platform.
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