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Nerissa Goedhart
Drone regulation, July and August 2026: BVLOS moves from policy to permission
Two months in which several of the headline items were individual permissions rather than new frameworks. Sweden cleared its first police operation beyond visual line of sight, Spain issued its first SAIL III cargo authorisation, and enforcement action arrived alongside both.
EMEA
Sweden clears its first police BVLOS operation. On 10 August the Swedish Transport Agency established a temporary danger area and a geographic UAS zone over parts of Norrköping, enabling the Swedish Police Authority to fly beyond visual line of sight there. It is the first decision of its kind in the country, and three details are worth noting. It works through airspace design, distributing responsibilities between air traffic control, the police, crewed aviation and other operators rather than giving anyone priority. It lets the police fly around the clock instead of depending on the control tower's opening hours. And the Police Authority intends to introduce the same capability in Stockholm, Göteborg and Södertälje during the year, so more decisions are coming.
Spain issues its first SAIL III cargo authorisation. AESA granted the country's first SAIL III operational authorisation for drone cargo transport, the level at which the evidence burden rises sharply.
EASA publishes the June 2026 Easy Access Rules. The revision consolidates current guidance for operators, authorities and manufacturers. We went through what it means in our piece on SORA 2.5 in the June 2026 Easy Access Rules.
Denmark requires electronic conspicuity. New rules oblige certain operations to be electronically visible, supporting safer integration between crewed and uncrewed aviation.
Poland consults on Drone Strategy 2.0. The civil aviation authority opened a consultation feeding the European Commission's review of the strategy's implementation, which is where the sector's next priorities are set.
Qatar enacts new drone legislation. A comprehensive framework covering registration, operations, enforcement and penalties.
UAE advances its aviation innovation programme. The GCAA announced further initiatives for the country's advanced aviation ecosystem.
Americas
FAA proposes a 289,215 dollar penalty. The agency proposed the civil penalty against one operator for multiple alleged violations.
Counter-UAS operations at the FIFA World Cup. The FAA reported coordinated detection and mitigation through the tournament, the largest recent test of counter-drone work at a major event. European readers will know the theme from Europe's counter-drone action plan.
Transport Canada repeats its wildfire warning. Flying near wildfire operations is illegal and dangerous, because it grounds firefighting aircraft.
Brazil and the FAA publish joint eVTOL safety objectives. ANAC and the FAA released the objectives together, and ANAC also ran a webinar on proposed Brazilian rule changes.
Chile launches online registration. The DGAC introduced a digital platform for registering remotely piloted aircraft.
Colombia sets conditions for earthquake response flying. Aerocivil established operational safety conditions for drone use in affected areas.
Asia-Pacific
Australia consults on flying above 400 feet. CASA opened consultation on operations above 400 feet in defined environments, published more flexible airworthiness pathways for large RPAs, and released the outcomes of its consultation on flying over people.
Japan issues further policy updates. MLIT published updates supporting continued commercial expansion.
Singapore trials dedicated flying areas. CAAS and SAFRA began trials of designated areas for recreational users.
Malaysia consults on a Low Altitude Economy framework. CAAM opened public consultation on its proposed framework.
Standardisation bodies
No major publications or consultations were released during this period.
What to take from it
Precedent is becoming useful. A national police force flying beyond visual line of sight in a defined urban zone, and a first SAIL III cargo authorisation, are reference points you can bring to your own authority. Neither guarantees anything about your case.
Conditions are shifting from how you fly to how you are seen. Electronic conspicuity and deconfliction routines are appearing as the price of complex operations, which belongs in procurement rather than at application stage.
Your authority sets your timeline. Sweden's decision followed a coordination meeting at Norrköping airport in spring and a full consultation. Every permission above took months that never make the announcement.
We track this every month. If you want help working out what an authorisation route looks like for your operation, our regulatory consultancy team does this with operators across Europe. And if there is a development we should be covering, tell us.
