- FAA and EASA representatives discussed BVLOS drone regulation at Commercial UAV Expo 2026
- FAA pursues operationally driven Part 108 while EASA employs risk-based SORA 2.5
- Both systems face challenges from congested low-altitude airspace and shared stakeholders
- FAA Part 108 publication expected by end of 2026, with EASA planning regulatory sandbox
- Convergence requires equivalent safety outcomes and interoperable standards, not identical rules
The Commercial UAV Expo 2026 has brought together senior representatives from the FAA and EASA to discuss regulatory approaches to beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations, with a closing keynote session drawing a packed room. Robert Reckert, Acting Division Manager of the Emerging Technologies Division within Flight Standards at the FAA, and Daan Dousi, Head of Department for Innovative Air Mobility at EASA, participated in the discussion moderated by Dublin based Avtrain CEO Julie Garland.
The FAA pursues an operationally driven journey from waivers and exemptions through Part 107 towards Part 108, while EASA employs a risk-based approach through SORA 2.5, PDRAs, and standard scenarios. Discussion covered ground and air risk, the increasingly congested low-altitude environment shared by drones, rotorcraft, general aviation, and advanced air mobility, and the potential for greater convergence in product standards, airworthiness, and reusable safety evidence.
Reckert described Part 108 as being on the 10-yard line while remaining unable to discuss the final rule’s content, indicating publication by the end of the year. Dousi acknowledged SORA’s complexity while emphasising that this complexity enables flexibility, highlighting EASA’s upcoming regulatory sandbox capability and the opportunity to learn from the FAA’s evidence-led, enable-first approach. The clearest takeaway from the session suggested that the FAA and EASA stand closer than their different regulatory systems might suggest, with convergence requiring confidence in equivalent safety outcomes, interoperable standards, and reusable evidence.
Avtrain CEO Julie Garland shared “Two Skies, One Conversation: Comparing FAA and EASA Approaches to BVLOS Drone Operations closing keynote at Commercial UAV Expo 2026 led to a packed room”
Acting Division Manager Robert Reckert shared “Part 108 as being on the 10-yard line” while indicating publication by the end of the year
Head of Department Daan Dousi shared “SORA can be complex, but that complexity also enables flexibility”
