The Air Navigation (Amendment) Order 2026 (S.I. 2026/99) corrects a defect in S.I. 2025/850 and was laid before Parliament on 10 February 2026. It comes into force on 3 March 2026 and amends the Air Navigation Order 2016 (ANO 2016) and Schedule 9 to the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021. The instrument extends across the United Kingdom and is issued free of charge to recipients of the earlier instrument.
For tethered small unmanned aircraft (TSUA) with a maximum take‑off mass of 250g or more, article 265E of ANO 2016 now applies two additional provisions from Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947: point UAS.OPEN.040(A1) on horizontal distance from uninvolved persons, and point UAS.OPEN.040(2A) on horizontal distance from buildings. These additions ensure that TSUA observe the same key separation rules that apply across the Open category framework as adapted for the UK.
The amendments also tidy the wording in article 265E(2)(b)(iv), replacing “horizontal distances” with “horizontal distance from certain areas”. Read together, the changes provide a clearer statement of spacing obligations for tethered operations around people, buildings and specified areas, reducing ambiguity that arose after the 2025 changes.
Article 265E(3) is updated so the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) may issue permissions allowing departures from the newly applied UAS.OPEN.040 requirements, as it can for existing provisions. This preserves the ability to authorise operations with alternative mitigations where a risk assessment justifies them, subject to the CAA’s case‑by‑case judgment.
Because TSUA are excluded from Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, they would otherwise fall outside the EU unmanned aircraft framework. ANO 2016 therefore applies selected provisions domestically. The 2026 Order reinforces that approach and clarifies that the “Unmanned Aircraft Implementing Regulation” refers to EU 2019/947 as last amended by the Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/1106). The definition of “Sailplane Regulation” is also adjusted by removing the phrase “as amended from time to time”.
Schedule 9 to the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021 is amended by omitting “of 250g or more” in paragraph 2(3)(a)(i) and (ii). The effect is to align police powers to require remote pilots to provide UAS operator details with the current operator registration rules in Article 14 of EU 2019/947 as amended in 2025. The operative question for officers becomes whether a relevant registration requirement applied to the person or flight, not whether the aircraft exceeded a fixed mass threshold.
For operators, event organisers and contractors using tethered systems, the operational impact is immediate from 3 March 2026. Operations manuals, risk assessments and pilot briefings should be updated to reflect horizontal distance duties from uninvolved persons and buildings for TSUA of 250g or more. Where proximity is unavoidable, operators should consider whether a CAA permission is required and prepare supporting evidence accordingly.
For sub‑250g tethered aircraft, the new UAS.OPEN.040 distance points applied by article 265E target aircraft of 250g or more, but registration‑linked obligations and police powers may still arise depending on Article 14 triggers. Remote pilots should ensure registration status is correct and that operator information can be produced on request.
Non‑compliance with article 265E remains an offence under ANO 2016. The Government has not produced a full impact assessment, stating that no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. The Order provides legal clarity after the 2025 amendments and removes inconsistencies identified by practitioners.
Taken together, the amendments align tethered operations with the UK’s post‑EU unmanned aircraft regime while preserving regulatory flexibility through CAA permissions. They also streamline police powers to the modernised registration framework, improving day‑to‑day enforceability without expanding substantive duties beyond those already set in law.