CAA Considers Dedicated UAS Advisory Body for Future Drone Regulation

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is asking the aviation industry how it should involve stakeholders in developing future safety regulations. One option under consideration is a dedicated advisory body for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

The CAA opened its Stakeholder Advisory Bodies questionnaire on 5th November 2026. Responses are invited until 31st January 2027.

The proposal could give drone operators, manufacturers, Recognised Assessment Entities and other stakeholders a more regular opportunity to raise problems with existing requirements and comment on policy before formal changes are proposed.

No UAS advisory body has been established at this stage. The CAA is asking whether the approach would be useful and how it should work.

What is the CAA proposing?

As part of its Regulatory Reform Programme, the CAA is considering a network of Stakeholder Advisory Bodies (SABs). These would initially sit within its Safety, Airspace and Regulatory Group, with the possibility of extending the approach elsewhere in the organisation.

The questionnaire identifies UAS as one of the sectors that could have its own advisory body. Other sectors listed include general aviation, commercial aviation, rotorcraft, aerodromes, air traffic management and safety management.

The CAA suggests that bodies could be established over the next two years, subject to further development and the feedback it receives.

The intended purpose is to involve industry earlier in policy and rulemaking, provide a clearer way to report problems with how rules are applied, and identify requirements that may need updating.

The CAA points to advisory arrangements used by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as examples of comparable approaches.

Why could this matter for drone operators?

Operators already have ways to contact the CAA, respond to consultations and raise issues through industry organisations. Those routes do not always provide an opportunity to discuss a proposed requirement before the CAA has developed its preferred approach.

A dedicated UAS advisory body could offer a more consistent route for practical experience to inform that work.

For example, operators and training organisations may want to raise questions about how UK SORA is implemented, the evidence required for particular mitigations, Remote Pilot competence or difficulties encountered when applying for an Operational Authorisation.

Those are possible subjects for a future advisory body, not an agreed list of issues that the CAA has committed to review.

The value of the proposal will depend on who is represented, how subjects are selected and what the CAA does with the advice it receives.

Who would be represented?

The CAA has not yet published membership arrangements for a UAS advisory body.

That leaves some practical questions worth raising in the questionnaire. Would individual UAS Operators and Remote Pilots be able to participate, or would places be reserved for representative organisations? How would smaller businesses and specialist operators be heard? Would the CAA publish meeting records and explain its decisions where it does not accept a recommendation?

These details matter because the experience of a large commercial operator may be different from that of an independent Remote Pilot, an RAE or an organisation developing a new operating concept.

The questionnaire invites responses from operators, organisations, representative bodies, aviation professionals and other stakeholders affected by CAA regulation. You do not need to wait for a formal consultation on a particular UAS rule to comment on how the engagement process should work.

Does this change UK drone regulation?

No. The questionnaire concerns the CAA's engagement arrangements. It does not amend the Open or Specific Category requirements, UK SORA, PDRA-01, Remote Pilot qualifications or any existing Operational Authorisation.

It is also separate from the Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill, which contains proposals concerning the CAA's future aviation safety rulemaking powers.

The two developments concern different parts of the regulatory process. The Bill addresses legal powers; the advisory body questionnaire asks how stakeholders might contribute to the development and review of policy.

Any future UAS advisory body would need a defined remit before its role in specific regulatory changes could be assessed.

How to respond

The CAA is asking for views on its current engagement arrangements, where they could improve, the potential advantages and difficulties of advisory bodies, and what meaningful participation should look like.

The questionnaire is open until 31st January 2027.

Respond to the CAA Stakeholder Advisory Bodies questionnaire.

Operators with experience of the current CAA engagement process may have useful examples to share, particularly where a requirement or its implementation has been difficult to discuss before a formal policy decision.

The CAA has not committed to creating the proposed bodies. Its next steps will depend on the responses and further work on the programme.