• - As of 31 August, UAS operators will not be able to submit new declarations based on national standard scenarios.

• - UAS operators who submitted their declaration by 30 August (inclusive) may submit amendments until 31 December 2025.

Madrid, 23 August 2024 (EASA)

Since December 31, 2020, the European UAS regulations apply, which regulate all types of drones regardless of their size or functionality. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 of 24 May 2019 on the rules and procedures for the use of unmanned aircraft provides in Article 23 that Member States may accept declarations by UAS operators based on national standard scenarios specific to each State until 31 December 2023.

In the case of Spain, through the Resolution of the management of the Spanish State Aviation Safety Agency approving national standard scenarios (STS-ES), the characteristics and conditions of the national standard scenarios in Spain for UAS operations in the ‘specific’ category were defined under an operational declaration. The STS-ES only allow this type of operations within the territory and airspace of Spanish sovereignty.

After the publication of these national standard scenarios (STS-ES), more than 4,000 UAS operators took advantage of these scenarios, which allow operations with an unmanned aircraft in a standard scenario, but without the need for a UAS with class C5 marking for STS-ES-01 and a UAS with C6 marking for STS-ES-02.

Initially, it was established that new operational declarations could be submitted until 31 December 2023, these being valid until 31 December 2025. However, it was found that the market did not have UAS models with class C5 and C6 marking, making it impossible to apply transactions in the standard scenarios set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947.

In the case of Spain, through the issuance of resolution EX-D-007 by the management of the Spanish Aviation Safety Agency, the continuity of the transitional period in which declarations could be submitted under the national standard scenarios (STS-ES) until 30 August 2024 was allowed.

Therefore, from the Spanish Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) we would like to remind UAS operators who have submitted declarations of compliance with the STS-ES published by AESA before 30 August 2024 (inclusive), that they may continue to submit amendments until the end of their validity. Such declarations shall be valid and may be operated in accordance with the declaration until 31 December 2025.

Conversely, UAS operators that do not have any STS-ES declaration submitted prior to the date of 30 August 2024 may not submit new declarations or amend them as of 31 August 2024.

UAS operators wishing to fly in STS from that date, and who have not submitted an STS-ES declaration before that date, may submit declarations in accordance with the European standard scenarios set out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947. The need to have the remote pilot certificate under the corresponding STS standard scenarios is recalled. You can find all the information related to the training of remote pilots in specific category here.

For more details of the applicable UAS regulations, you can consult our website.