Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 82468 on Unmanned Air Systems; whether the proposed reforms to Civil Air Publication 1616 will include (a) fast-track pathways, (b) service standards and (c) key performance indicators for decision times on airspace change proposals that support (i) NHS medical logistics and (ii) other public-interest use cases.

The review to the regulatory framework which I referred to in my response to questions 82466 and 82468, relates to amending the Air Navigation Directions and Air Navigation Guidance. These are the Department for Transport statutory documents issued to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to instruct and guide them on how to carry out their air navigation functions. We intend to launch a public consultation on these changes by the end of the year. The consultation will be followed by an impact assessment prior to any changes coming into effect.

The consultation will include potential measures to provide the CAA with greater flexibility and discretion to expedite and support trials of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations.

On 25^th September 2025 the CAA launched its consultation on proposed changes to their airspace change process (CAP1616). This consultation will run until 18^th December 2025. As the UK’s independent regulator for civil aviation, the CAA owns this process, as such I am not able to comment on any questions relating to this consultation.