Across the EU and the wider EASA area, drone flying is grouped into three risk-based categories: Open, Specific, and Certified. The overwhelming majority of everyday flights — hobby flying, photography, small inspection jobs — sit in the Open category, the lowest-risk tier. If you're getting started, this is almost certainly where you begin.
The Open category comes with a fixed set of boundaries. Your drone must weigh under 25 kg, you have to keep it within your own line of sight, you can't fly higher than 120 metres above the ground, and you must never fly over crowds or carry dangerous goods. Stay inside those limits and you don't need a case-by-case permit from your national aviation authority.
The three subcategories
Within the Open category, what you can do depends on how close you fly to other people — and that splits into three subcategories:
- A1 — flying near people. For the lightest drones. You may fly close to individual people, but never over assemblies or crowds. Sub-250 g drones are the simplest case here. - A2 — flying close to people. For mid-weight drones, keeping a safe horizontal distance from anyone not involved in the flight. This one needs an extra certificate (more below). - A3 — flying far from people. For the heaviest Open-category drones. You stay well clear of residential, commercial, and industrial areas — think open countryside, away from bystanders.
The category isn't about how good a pilot you are. It's about the worst thing that could happen if something goes wrong — and how many people are nearby when it does.
What training you actually need
For A1 and A3, most pilots take a short online course and pass a theory exam. For A2, there's an additional Certificate of Competency on top of that. The drone you fly, and the class label printed on it, decides which subcategory — and which training — applies to you.
Our platform maps your drone and your country to the exact path you need, so you're not left guessing which exam to sit.
