TO BE PUBLISHED May 2026
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This conference will examine next steps for the UK’s drone sector. The planned agenda will focus on regulatory and operational arrangements needed to support safe, routine use at scale, as the Civil Aviation Authority and Department for Transport work towards integrated beyond visual line of sight operations by 2027 under the Future of Flight Programme.
Operational standards
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to discuss current priorities and wider considerations following publication of the Airspace Modernisation Strategy, including the development of proportionate standards and approvals for BVLOS operations, and practical steps needed to support a transition from trial activity to routine integrated operations.
Sessions will assess the way forward for progressing from trial activity to routine integrated operations as CAA-backed trials reach completion or move into wider operational phases, and in the context of the UK Research and Innovation and DfT funding announced under the Future Flight Challenge. Areas for discussion include approaches to moving from temporarily-reserved airspace to fully integrated operations, including application of the UK-Specific Operations Risk Assessment methodology and associated digital platform, respective roles of operators, service providers and airspace managers, and practical options for enabling smaller companies to participate as the market develops.
Accountability
Further discussion is expected to bring out latest thinking on legal and structural questions associated with technical integration, including issues raised in the Law Commission’s consultation on aviation autonomy, with respect to liability and accountability for incidents, and statutory requirements that may be needed for UTM service providers.
Attendees will consider how proposals such as NATS’ OpenAir concept and the CAA’s planned UK Airspace Design Service may affect system-wide information management, public confidence and wider adoption across different use cases, including where public support varies between emergency and commercial applications.
Overview of areas for discussion
- regulation:
- implementation of the CAA BVLOS roadmap - assessing approaches to streamlining operational approvals and oversight
- alignment of airspace modernisation milestones with drone integration - responsibilities for autonomous and semi-autonomous operations
- BVLOS:
- moving from trials to routine operations - application of UK-SORA and associated digital tooling
- managing transition from temporarily-reserved airspace - roles for operators, service providers and airspace managers
- unmanned aircraft system traffic management:
- options for a UK-wide crewless traffic management approach - interoperability with manned aviation and future UTM services, including EU U-space frameworks
- considerations for assuring safety and predictability at scale
- remote identification:
- practical routes to implementation - approaches that are proportionate for operators while remaining practical to monitor and enforce
- compliance monitoring and incident response - cross-border and interoperability considerations
- liability:
- responses to the Law Commission consultation on aviation autonomy - apportioning civil and criminal liability
- operator, manufacturer and software-provider duties - implications for investigations, enforcement and insurance
- infrastructure:
- command-and-control resilience and connectivity requirements - low-altitude mapping and corridor concepts
- cybersecurity and data integrity expectations - priorities for detect-and-avoid and autonomy development
- market access:
- moving from pilots to scaled commercial deployment - addressing barriers to investment and procurement
- fostering smaller business and UK start-up participation - regional delivery capacity and supply chains
- public confidence:
- strategic routes to improving trust in routine operations - community engagement for varying operational settings
- privacy, surveillance and noise concerns - transparency in data collection and use
- UK international positioning:
- benchmarking progress compared with EU, US and Asia-Pacific - options for harmonisation or bilateral alignment - attracting investment, talent and testing activity
- addressing factors influencing decisions by UK operators and innovators on whether to base activity and investment in the UK or elsewhere
