The Government has made the Air Navigation (Amendment) Order 2026 to correct a drafting defect in last year’s ANO update and to clarify how unmanned aircraft rules apply to tethered small unmanned aircraft. The Order was made on 3 February 2026, laid before Parliament on 10 February, and comes into force on 3 March 2026. The Department for Transport had already acknowledged the error in S.I. 2025/850 and committed to remedy it at the first opportunity. (publications.parliament.uk)
Operational rules now explicitly extend two open-category separation requirements to tethered small unmanned aircraft (TSUA) with a maximum take-off mass of 250g or more. Through cross-reference to points UAS.OPEN.040(A1) and UAS.OPEN.040(2A), TSUA operations must be conducted at a safe horizontal distance of at least 50 metres from uninvolved persons and from any building. These are carried across from the 2019/947 Implementing Regulation as amended for the UK in 2025. (legislationtracker.co.uk)
The Civil Aviation Authority can authorise deviations from these added separation points in defined circumstances. The Order updates article 265E(3) of the Air Navigation Order 2016 so that a CAA permission issued to the UAS operator may allow a remote pilot to fly a TSUA otherwise not in compliance with the new UAS.OPEN.040(A1) and (2A) requirements. Operators should expect such permissions to set specific conditions and mitigations. (caa.co.uk)
Two interpretative changes tidy the statute book. First, the ultra vires ambulatory wording in the definition of “Sailplane Regulation” is removed, implementing the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments’ finding that S.I. 2025/850 strayed beyond its powers by including the phrase “as amended from time to time”. Second, the definition of “Unmanned Aircraft Implementing Regulation” is refreshed to point to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 as last amended by the Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) Regulations 2025. (publications.parliament.uk)
Schedule 9 to the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021 is also aligned with the updated registration framework. The words “of 250g or more” are omitted from paragraph 2(3)(a)(i) and (ii) so that police powers to require a remote pilot to provide information identifying the UAS operator track the “relevant registration requirement” in Article 14 of 2019/947, irrespective of a 250g threshold. This reflects the Act’s scheme under which constables may verify registration where it applies to a person or flight. (legislation.gov.uk)
For practitioners, the immediate effect from 3 March 2026 is that TSUA of 250g or more must observe a fixed 50‑metre lateral buffer from both uninvolved people and buildings unless a CAA permission states otherwise. That buffer sits alongside existing obligations on designation of a remote pilot, geo‑awareness updates, and display of the operator’s registration number, which continue to apply to TSUA under article 265E. (legislationtracker.co.uk)
The 2026 changes dovetail with the wider unmanned aircraft package commenced in January 2026, which updated the UK version of 2019/947 and introduced domestic class-marking and remote identification provisions through S.I. 2025/1106. Those amendments are the source of the new UAS.OPEN.040 points now applied to TSUA and are referenced in the updated ANO definition to ensure coherence across the regime. (statutoryinstruments.parliament.uk)
Real‑world implications are straightforward. Filming, inspection and public‑safety teams that rely on tethered sub‑1kg platforms must re‑plan launch sites and cordons for any aircraft at or above 250g MTOM to maintain the 50‑metre stand‑off from people and buildings. Where this is impractical-for example at constrained urban sites-operators will need to secure a tailored CAA permission in good time and document mitigations in their operating procedures. (caa.co.uk)
Enforcement clarity also improves. By removing the weight qualifier from Schedule 9, constables can require remote pilots to provide operator details whenever the underlying Article 14 registration duty bites, including for some sub‑250g operations. This closes a gap created by legacy drafting and should streamline on‑scene checks alongside the separate offences made under the 2025 unmanned aircraft regulations. (legislation.gov.uk)