India To Collaborate With EU on New Drone, AAM Regulations

An agreement between Indian and European aviation authorities will see the two collaborate on new standards for advanced aviation.

Jack Daleo

Friday, April 21, 2023 at 04:16 PM ET

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An agreement between Indian and European aviation authorities will see the two collaborate on new standards for advanced aviation. [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) exhibit differing regulatory approaches for drones, with EASA generally adopting a more stringent and categorized framework, particularly for advanced operations like Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).
India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has formally partnered with EASA to develop its future drone and urban air mobility regulations, signaling an alignment with the European Union's structured and safety-focused model.
This collaboration suggests India's drone regulatory landscape will likely evolve towards EASA's categorized system, potentially incorporating elements like U-Space for managing complex operations, a contrast to the FAA's more "hands-off" and waiver-dependent approach for commercial drone activities.

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When it comes to regulating drones, the Federal Aviation Administration and the EU’s European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) don’t always agree.

In some areas, like rules surrounding unmanned traffic management (UTM), the two regulatory bodies are quite similar. But they diverge on issues like safety, for example, where the FAA’s hands-off approach clashes with EASA’s more heavy-handed policies.