How it works

What you are applying for

Most commercial drone work in Europe lands in what the rules call the Specific category — the middle tier, above the low-risk Open category and well below the Certified one, which is built for aircraft-scale operations carrying people. It covers work that carries more risk than the Open rules allow: flying beyond what you can see, over people, near buildings, or at heights and distances the simple rules do not permit.

Being in the Specific category does not mean your operation is dangerous. It means the authority wants it written down: what you fly, where, under what limits, what could go wrong, and what you do about it. That written case is the work. When it is complete and consistent, the decision is usually straightforward; when it is vague, it comes back with questions.

You do not need to know any of this in advance. Describe the job you want to do in your own words and we will tell you which route it fits. If you would rather know who you would be working with first, that is a fair question and it has its own page.

What happens between the steps

The first conversation is short and free, and its purpose is to find out whether you need us at all. Some operations are allowed under the simpler rules and need no approval work; if yours is one of them we will say so.

If it is not, the quote comes with an agreed scope and a set number of revision rounds, so you know before starting what is included and where the boundary is. There is no subscription and nothing renews by itself.

While the documents are being prepared we will come back to you with questions — about how you actually operate, who does what, and what you already own. That part cannot be skipped: a manual describing an operation you do not run is worse than no manual, because you would be held to it.

After approval

Once you are operating, two things carry on: you have to plan and record your flights, and your paperwork has to keep matching the rules as they change. Both are optional to buy from us, and both are things you could do yourself.

The Operational Package

The documents you use day to day: flight planning forms, a flight log, and the records an authority would ask to see if it ever checked. They are ordinary spreadsheet and document files, delivered once. You keep your own copies, so nothing depends on us holding the only version and nothing stops working if you stop working with us.

The Compliance Package

A yearly check that your documents are still in line with current rules. Once a year we look at what has changed and tell you whether anything affects you — and if nothing has, we say so and there is nothing to pay, because it is billed only when we actually do the work.

Neither is mandatory and neither is a subscription. If you would rather handle the ongoing side yourself, that is a normal outcome and we will hand over everything you need to do it.