Operations subject to Authorisation in the Specific Category

The first thing to do before applying for an operational authorisation is to check whether your operation can be accommodated within a Standard Scenario. If it can, you do not need an authorisation, but you do need to submit a declaration to the National Aviation Authority. This can be done by logging in to your account at www.drones.gov.cy and choosing the declaration icon. A standard scenario is an operation defined in the Appendix to the drone regulation (EU Regulation 2019/947). You need to use a drone marked with the appropriate class identification label (5 or 6). After submitting the declaration to the National Aviation Authority, you will receive the confirmation of receipt and completeness from the National Aviation Authority and operate following the limitations of the standard scenario.

In the case your operation is not covered by a Standard Scenario, you can apply for an operational authorisation in the ‘specific’ category based either on a predefined risk assessment (PDRA) published by EASA or your own Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA):

1. An Operational Authorisation by conducting a risk assessment of the intended operation using a methodology for the risk assessment; one possible method is the SORA (specific operation risk assessment) that you can find as AMC1 to Article 11 to Regulation (EU) 2019/947. This methodology helps to identify the risk level of the operation and to identify the mitigations and operational safety objectives needed to make the operation safe. When the drone operator believes they have put in place satisfactory measures to ensure the safety of the operation, they send all the information to the National Aviation Authority and apply for an operational authorisation. When the National Aviation Authority is satisfied, it provides the drone operator with the authorisation, and the operation can be started.
2. An Operation Authorisation through a predefined risk assessment’ (PDRA) as a simplification of the drone operator conducting a risk assessment. For those operations that will be the most common in Europe, EASA will carry out the risk assessment and will publish, as an acceptable means of compliance with the drone regulation, the list of the actions that the drone operator needs to put in place in order to conduct the operation safely. An application for an authorisation to the National Aviation Authority is still needed, however, both the drone operator and the National Aviation Authority will benefit from the standardised measures defined in the PDRA. The PDRAs are published by EASA as AMC to Art 11 to Regulation (EU) 2019/947; more are already under development.

To apply for an Operational Authorisation through a full SORA risk assessment, the UAS operator is required to submit to the Civil Aviation Authority the following documentation:

1. Application form completed and signed (can be downloaded here)
2. Operations Manual (info how to construct an operations manual here)
3. SORA risk assessment for the intended operation
4. Documentation and /or compliance evidence, supporting the SORA risk assessment  (i.e manufactures manuals, flight tests, analysis data)

To apply for an Operational Authorisation through a published PDRA, the UAS operator is required to submit to the Civil Aviation Authority the following documentation:

1. Application form completed and signed (can be downloaded here)
2. Operations Manual (info how to construct an operations manual here)
3. Filled PDRA description and conditions worksheet (can be downloaded here)

For those parts of the PDRA that require low (L) level of assurance, a declaration of compliance from the UAS operator is considered enough in most cases.

PDRA characterisation and conditions tables can be found on EASA’s Easy Access material. A link to an excel spreadsheet below can also be used.

If the required level of assurance is medium (M), the UAS operator also has to provide supporting evidence on how it will fulfil the specific requirements.