Since the entry into force of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2019/947 of 24 May 2019 on rules and procedures for the operation of unmanned aircraft in Polish airspace, a new type of flight restrictions – geographical zones – has started to be published. According to their definition in Article 2(4) of the above-mentioned act, a geographical zone for unmanned aircraft systems means a part of the airspace designated by the competent authority that facilitates, restricts or excludes operations with unmanned aircraft systems in order to eliminate safety, privacy, data protection, security or environmental risks arising from operations with such systems.
Regulation 2019/947 regulates the designation of geographical zones in Article 15, which states:
(1) When defining geographical zones for unmanned aircraft systems for safety, security, privacy or environmental reasons, Member States may:
- prohibit some or all operations with unmanned aircraft systems, require specific conditions for some or all operations with unmanned aircraft systems, or require prior authorisation to fly for some or all operations with unmanned aircraft systems;
- cover operations using unmanned aircraft systems with specific environmental standards;
- allow access only to certain classes of unmanned aircraft systems;
- allow access only to unmanned aerial systems equipped with specific technical functions, in particular remote identification systems or spatial awareness systems.
(2) On the basis of a risk assessment carried out by the competent authority, Member States may designate geographical zones where operations with unmanned aircraft systems are exempted from one or more of the requirements of the “open” category.
(3) Where Member States designate geographic zones for unmanned aircraft systems on the basis of paragraph 1 or 2, they shall, for spatial awareness purposes, ensure that information on those geographic zones, including their duration, is made publicly available in a common unique format
In Poland, the body responsible for designating geographical zones is the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency. As can be seen in the definition of a geographic zone quoted above, the European Commission has indicated that the authority empowered to perform this task is the ‘competent authority’, which, under Article 21(2a) of the Aviation Law, is the President of the Civil Aviation Authority. However, bearing in mind that the President of the CAA does not deal with issues related to airspace management and ensuring the safety of air navigation, on 6 November 2019 he concluded an administrative agreement with the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency in order to perform the tasks set out in Article 18 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2019/947 of 24 May 2019 on rules and procedures for the operation of unmanned aircraft. This agreement currently provides the basis for the PAŻP to designate geographical zones, until this task is written into generally applicable legislation – i.e. the Aviation Law.
Due to the fact that, as of the date of writing this article, the Aviation Law has not been amended to adequately transpose European regulations in this area and these tasks have not been clearly defined, the Polish legislator decided to introduce the Guidelines of the President of the Civil Aviation Office No. 17 of 6 June 2023 on the designation of geographical zones for unmanned aircraft systems in time for the enactment of statutory amendments. Of course, at this point it should be emphasised that the Guidelines of the President of the CAA are not a source of universally applicable law, but merely provide guidance on how the regulations should be applied.
According to the above document, the following types of geographical zones can be designated in Poland:
- DRA-P – a prohibited zone in which operations using unmanned aircraft systems may not be carried out;
- DRA-R – a restricted zone for unmanned aircraft systems, in which operations using unmanned aircraft systems may be carried out with the consent and under conditions specified by the Agency or the authorised entity at the request of which the geographical zone has been designated; including:
- DRA-RH – a restricted zone for unmanned aircraft systems with a high probability of approval for the operations referred to above;
- DRA-RM – a restricted zone for unmanned aircraft systems, with a medium probability of approval for the operations referred to above;
- DRA-RL – a restricted zone for unmanned aircraft systems with a low probability of approval for the operations referred to above;
- DRA-T – a restricted zone for unmanned aircraft systems, in which the Agency indicates the technical requirements to be met by the unmanned aircraft system with which the operation is to be conducted; for the DRA-T zone, additional conditions for operations, including the obligation to obtain approval for operations, are allowed;
- DRA-U – a geographical zone for unmanned aircraft systems in which operations of unmanned aircraft systems may only take place with the support of specific, verified services provided in that zone and under the conditions specified by the Agency;
- DRA-I – unmanned aircraft systems information zone, containing information necessary to ensure safe operations using unmanned aircraft systems, including navigational warnings.
Currently, only those entities listed in § 5 of Guideline No. 17 may request the designation of a geographic zone. According to the Guideline – once the purpose or objective of the provision is met – geographic zones may be designated upon request:
- Operational Commander of the Armed Forces, Commander-in-Chief of the Military Police, Chief of the Head of the Air Traffic Services of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland, Head of the Internal Security Agency, Head of the Intelligence Agency, Chief of the Police, Chief of the Border Guard, Head of the National Fiscal Administration, Head of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, Head of the State Protection Service, Chief Inspector of Environmental Protection or Director General of the State Forests
– due to the needs of activities or actions of special operational or reconnaissance importance, ensuring state security or public order, carried out in order to fulfil statutory tasks by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland, the Internal Security Agency, the Intelligence Agency, the Police, the Border Guard, the National Fiscal Administration, the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, the State Protection Service, the Chief Inspector of Environmental Protection or the State Forests; - the Chief Commandant of the Police, the Chief Commandant of the State Fire Service or the Director of the Government Security Centre
– on grounds of the need to protect critical infrastructure, to prevent or deal with the consequences of natural disasters or to save human life or health; - President of the Civil Aviation Authority
– due to the fulfilment of statutory tasks; - of the State Commission for the Investigation of Aircraft Accidents
– due to the fulfilment of statutory tasks; - an operator of unmanned aircraft systems holding a ‘special category’ operating authorisation as referred to in Article 12(1) of Regulation No 2019/947/EU, if the designation of a particular type of geographical zone is required by that authorisation;
- an operator of unmanned aircraft systems holding an authorisation for operations within the framework of aeromodelling clubs and associations as referred to in Article 16(1) of Regulation No 2019/947/EU, if the designation of a particular type of geographical zone is required by that authorisation.
According to the Guidelines, geographical zones may be designated by the PAŻP on its own initiative if this is necessary to ensure air traffic safety, including the safety of operations using unmanned aircraft systems. It is worth noting that this power has not been granted to entities that have been granted a special category flight permit by the President of the ULC. This gap is filled by the designation of zones by the PAŻP on its own initiative if this is necessary to ensure air traffic safety, including the safety of operations using unmanned aircraft systems. On this basis, the PAŻP also designates geographical zones in CTR-type spaces.
The procedure for zone designation is described in the Guidelines of the President of the CAA. PAŻP shall designate zones upon receipt of a zone designation request no later than:
- 7 calendar days before the planned start date of a geographical zone whose duration is to be less than one month (short-term geographical zone);
- 30 calendar days prior to the planned start date of a geographical zone whose duration is to be longer than one month (long-term geographical zone).
This application must include the name of the authorised entity, a justification for the implementation of the geographical zone including the nature of the threat and a description of the expected results from the establishment of the geographical zone, the proposed horizontal boundaries of the characterised threat, as well as the proposed start and end date of the requested geographical zone. In addition, the applicant may also specify the proposed conditions for unmanned aircraft system operations in the requested geographical zone.
Upon receipt of an application for designation of a geographical zone, the Agency shall carry out an assessment, which shall be divided into two stages: a preliminary assessment and a proper assessment. During the initial assessment, the PAZP shall decide whether the expected results specified by the applicant can be achieved by designating one or more geographical zones and shall communicate the result of the initial assessment to the applicant, indicating in particular the estimated number of geographical zones needed and their type.
Pursuant to § 6(11) of the Guidelines, for the purposes of the initial assessment referred to in paragraph 5 and the proper assessment of the application for the designation of a geographical zone referred to in paragraph 6, a single geographical zone is considered to be a shaped area:
- a circle with a radius of up to 2,500 m, containing no more than one object for the protection of which the geographical zone is delimited, hereinafter referred to as “protected object”;
- a polygon consisting of no more than 8 sides, defined by no more than 8 coordinates, whose area does not exceed the area of a circle with a radius of 2 000 m, containing no more than one protected object;
- a polygon having no more than 16 sides, defined by no more than 16 geographical coordinates and not exceeding 500 m in width and 15 000 m in breadth, containing no more than one protected object.
If the competent price determines that the desired results specified by the applicant can be attained by designating more than one geographical zone, the Agency shall invite the applicant to amend the application or submit further applications and shall set a deadline of no less than 14 days for that purpose. Failure to respect this deadline shall result in the application being left unprocessed.
When designating a geographical zone, PAŻP shall specify its type and its duration, which shall not exceed 3 months, the vertical and horizontal boundaries of the geographical zone, taking into account the airspace structure in the area, the conditions for operations with an unmanned aircraft system in the geographical zone, taking into account Article 15(1)(a-d) of Regulation No 2019/947/EU.
When designating geographical zones, the Agency shall not be bound by a request from an authorised entity to define its type and the conditions for operations with an unmanned aircraft system, taking into account the need for proportionality of the solutions implemented to the risks identified. Conditions for operations with an unmanned aircraft system in a given geographical zone shall include in particular:
- minimum or maximum flight altitude;
- the maximum take-off mass of the unmanned aircraft;
- the type of UAV pilot qualification required for operations in the geographical area concerned;
- the category of operations referred to in Article 3 of Regulation No 2019/947/EU authorised to be carried out in the geographical area concerned;
- the class of the unmanned aircraft system, as defined in accordance with the provisions of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 of 12 March 2019 on unmanned aircraft systems and operators of unmanned aircraft systems from third countries (Official Journal of the EU L 152, 11.06.2019, p. 1, as amended) authorised to operate in the geographical zone concerned;
- additional equipment for the unmanned aircraft system, where this has the effect of minimising the risks of the operations performed.
