Beyond line of sight in the UK: what changed in September, and what is still a plan
In the UK, you keep your drone where you can see it. That is the basic rule, and it still stands. What is changing is the route to doing something else, and in the second half of September the Civil Aviation Authority published two updates that make that route a little shorter.
Neither update changes anything for most pilots. This is what the CAA has actually published, what it means, and what is still only a plan.
The rule today
In the Open Category, which covers most hobby flying and a lot of commercial work, every flight is within visual line of sight. The CAA's own page is blunt about it: you must never fly beyond visual line of sight unless you hold an Operational Authorisation from the CAA that allows it.
That authorisation sits in the Specific Category. You apply with a risk assessment built on UK SORA, the CAA's method for working out the risks of a particular operation and the measures that bring them down. Beyond line of sight, the hard part of that assessment is the air risk: how you avoid other aircraft when nobody can see yours.
Closing off a block of airspace for the flight is one answer, but it suits trials better than everyday work. The CAA has two other answers, and both were updated in September.
Route one: flying close to structures
The first answer is the Atypical Air Environment. The idea is simple. Crewed aircraft very rarely fly right next to buildings, pylons or railway lines, so a drone kept tight to them is unlikely to meet one. The CAA's policy gives three examples of what can count:
- within 100ft (30m) of any building or structure;
- within 50ft (15m) of a permanent linear structure above ground, such as a railway, a road or a power line;
- within the confines of private property, at no more than 50ft.
It is not a free pass. The policy expects the drone to carry an electronic conspicuity device that transmits on 978 MHz and receives on both 978 and 1090 MHz, high intensity anti-collision lighting switched on for the whole flight, day or night, and a technically robust way of keeping the drone inside its operating area. Flights are notified in advance, by default through a NOTAM. The CAA's guidance on making the case, CAP3239B, was published in May.
What changed at the end of September. The fourth edition of the policy, CAP3040, dated 28 September, adds a new annex on repeating the same operation at other sites. Once an operator is approved for a beyond line of sight operation in one of these environments, it can add similar sites without a full reassessment of each one, as long as the new sites do not raise the overall risk and need no new or changed mitigations. The operator sends the CAA an airspace checklist and risk assessment at least five working days before the NOTAM is due, and the CAA may audit or sample the extra sites.
That is a real easing, but a narrow one. It saves paperwork for operators who are already approved. It does not make approval itself any easier to get.
Route two: detect and avoid
The second answer is equipment that spots other aircraft and gets out of the way, known as detect and avoid. On 22 September the CAA published version 2 of its detect and avoid policy, CAP3015. It sets out what evidence it expects before relying on such a system, working up from checks on the surveillance data, through simulation, to full trials in real conditions.
The policy can support applications during what the CAA calls its test phase. It is not a blanket approval: each operation still needs its own authorisation, and the evidence is expected to come from the operator.
The bigger plan
Both updates sit inside a longer programme.
- The roadmap. CAP3182, published in October 2025, sets a goal of routine beyond line of sight operations by 2027, along three paths: flights close to infrastructure, low level urban flights such as deliveries between hospitals, and flights fully mixed in with other air traffic.
- The airspace concept. CAP3269, published on 30 July, describes how UK airspace could change to make that possible, with electronic visibility between drones and crewed aircraft and digital services to coordinate flights.
- Traffic management. The CAA consulted on a concept for drone traffic management services from 5 June to 28 August. It has said it will publish a response setting out what it will change.
- UK SORA. Changes to the UK SORA guidance that were due to come into force on 1 October 2026 will not be applied. The CAA says it intends to combine them into a single update next year.
What it means for you
If you fly in the Open Category, nothing has changed. Keep the drone in sight, as before.
If you do inspection work, the structure route is the one to watch. Power lines, railways, wind turbines and private sites are exactly what it was written for. The price of entry is an Operational Authorisation and the equipment above, which today is a serious step for a small operator. The new annex makes that investment go further once it is made.
If you hire drone pilots, most everyday jobs, a roof, a house, an event or a building site, are flown within sight and do not need any of this. Where a job does need a drone to fly beyond sight, ask the operator for their Operational Authorisation before anything else.
The direction is clear, and the CAA has put a year on it. For now the line of sight rule stands, and the routes around it are open only to operators who have done the work to be approved.
Where to read more
Terasor Team
Notes on drone regulation, equipment and the working side of aerial services, for the people who fly and the people who hire them. Terasor is a platform for professional drone services and aerial content.