EASA Updates Official List of 66 EU-Approved Drones, With DJI Holding 26 Spots — And the Cx System May Change Soon

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has published its latest official list of drones approved for operation in the EU, covering 66 systems across the Open and Specific categories. The list is a practical reference, not a press release. If you’re buying a drone for commercial work in Europe, or advising someone who is, this document tells you exactly which Cx class label applies, what operational category you can fly in, and what noise limits the manufacturer has declared. Natale Di Rubbo, EASA’s Drone Project Manager — the same engineer who confirmed the DJI Mini 5 Pro’s C0 status last September despite its 252-gram real-world weight — is now leading a revision of the entire Cx framework ahead of this summer.

• The Update: EASA has released a revised list of 66 drones approved for EU operations, specifying Cx class label, manufacturer, operational category, and maximum noise levels for each model.
• DJI Dominates: DJI accounts for 26 of the 66 listed systems, nearly 40% of the approved catalog, confirming its position as the single largest presence in the EU-certified market.
• Cx Revisions Coming: EASA is developing changes to the Cx classification system driven by the European Commission’s drone and counter-drone action plan, which proposes mandatory Remote ID for all drones above 100 grams — a significant drop from the current 250-gram threshold.
• New Digital Tools: EASA’s Innovative Air Mobility Hub now includes the Drone Rule Navigator, a Population Density Map for SORA assessments, and eSORA for completing the full Specific Operations Risk Assessment process online.

How the Cx Class System Structures EU Drone Operations

The Cx class label is the gating mechanism for the EU’s Open category drone framework. A drone’s Cx label — C0 through C6 — determines which operational subcategory it can fly in, what pilot qualifications apply, and what distances from people and infrastructure must be maintained. C0 and C1 cover the Open category’s A1 subcategory for lighter consumer drones; C2 sits in A2; C3 and C4 cover A3. C5 and C6 step into the Specific category’s standard scenarios, designed for operations with more complex airspace and risk requirements.

This is not an abstract regulatory exercise. When DJI released its C1-retrofit update for the Air 2S in early 2024, it opened up subcategory A1 operations for tens of thousands of European pilots who would otherwise have been pushed toward A3 restrictions after January 1, 2024. The label determines where you can legally fly, full stop. Getting it wrong isn’t a paperwork issue; it’s a civil aviation violation.

For drones targeting the Specific category, C5 and C6 labels connect to standard scenarios that require operators to go through a structured risk assessment. EASA’s updated eSORA tool now handles this process digitally through the Innovative Air Mobility Hub, replacing what was previously a time-consuming paper-based workflow.

DJI Claims 26 of 66 Spots on the Approved List

DJI holds 26 of the 66 approved drone slots on EASA’s current list — roughly 39% of the entire EU-certified catalog. No other manufacturer comes close to that share, and it reflects a multi-year push by the Shenzhen company to get its product line through European product certification. The company has pursued Cx certification aggressively: from the Mavic 3 earning the world’s first C1 label in August 2022 to the Matrice 30 and 350 RTK picking up C2 and C3 certifications in July 2023.

The remaining 40 slots are distributed across other manufacturers, a number that has been gradually growing as European and Asian drone makers pursue their own Cx approvals. Each new certified system gives operators more choice, and it gives commercial buyers an alternative to a supply chain that US regulators have been trying to restrict. European operators don’t face the same DJI limitations as their American counterparts, and the approved list reflects that — models like the DJI Neo 2, which launched in Europe in November 2025, remain unavailable in the US.

The Cx Framework Is Being Rewritten Before Summer

The approved list is accurate today, but the classification system underneath it is in active revision. The European Commission’s action plan on drone and counter-drone security, which we covered in February when it buried a 100-gram registration threshold proposal in its counter-drone language, directly triggered this Cx rework. The action plan calls for mandatory Remote ID on all drones above 100 grams and additional geofencing requirements. Both changes cut across the current class structure in ways that haven’t been fully resolved.

Di Rubbo has indicated EASA is preparing an initial proposal to share with industry before summer. That timeline is tight. The Commission wants its Drone Security Package ready for approval by Q3 2026, which means EASA needs its own regulatory position set well before that deadline.

If the 100-gram Remote ID requirement survives into final legislation, the impact on C0 drones is worth unpacking carefully. Under current rules, C0 drones equipped with cameras and sensors already carry Remote ID obligations in many operational scenarios. What the 100-gram threshold would change is the scope: mandatory Remote ID and registration would apply to all drones in that weight range regardless of payload or use, not just those meeting specific operational criteria. That’s a broader net, and it catches a lot of hardware that currently sits in a lighter regulatory band.

Worth noting: the UK already moved its registration threshold to 100 grams starting January 1, 2026. We covered that shift back in October 2025, and the parallel to what Brussels is now proposing is direct.

EASA’s New Digital Tools for Operators and SORA Applicants

Alongside the updated approved list, EASA has been expanding its Innovative Air Mobility Hub with three practical tools targeting operators who need to navigate the regulatory structure. The Drone Rule Navigator helps operators identify which category and subcategory applies to their planned operation — useful particularly for pilots moving from recreational flying into commercial work where the category boundaries get complicated fast. The Population Density Map feeds into SORA assessments by providing the standardized density data the process requires. The eSORA tool completes the loop, allowing operators to run the full Specific Operations Risk Assessment digitally.

SORA has been a friction point for European operators since its introduction. The Dutch Association of Certified RPAS Operators raised concerns in March 2025 about flyaway risk assumptions baked into SORA 2.5, and the shift to a digital workflow doesn’t resolve the underlying methodology disputes. But it does remove some of the administrative burden that has made Specific category applications slow and expensive. The eSORA tool is worth testing if you have a standard scenario application pending.

DroneXL’s Take

The approved list itself isn’t the story here. Sixty-six systems, DJI with 26 — fine. What matters is the regulatory turbulence underneath it. EASA is being asked to revise the Cx classification system in response to a security-driven action plan that was designed to stop hostile drones, not to regulate a commercial operator flying a mapping mission over a construction site. Those are very different problems being addressed with the same regulatory tool.

I’ve been tracking Di Rubbo’s communications for months. He’s been consistent and technically careful, from the Mini 5 Pro weight tolerance clarification last September to this Cx revision timeline. When someone at that level signals an industry proposal “before summer,” that’s a real commitment with a real deadline attached. The question is what that proposal actually contains.

If EASA tries to retrofit Remote ID requirements onto existing C0 and C1 certified hardware that wasn’t designed for it, manufacturers will push back hard — and rightly so. Retroactive compliance requirements on already-certified products are a different category of problem from new requirements on future designs. Those are not equivalent asks.

My read: EASA will thread the needle by applying the 100-gram Remote ID requirement only to new certifications after a defined cutover date, not to existing approved hardware. That would protect the 66 currently listed systems while satisfying the Commission’s security framing. Expect that proposal to generate significant industry comment over the summer, with a revised Cx framework unlikely to take legal effect before late 2027 at the earliest.

Operators buying drones for EU commercial operations today should use the current approved list as intended — it’s accurate and legally reliable right now. Just don’t assume the C-class label on the box will mean the same thing in three years.

Editorial Note: AI tools were used to assist with research and archive retrieval for this article. All reporting, analysis, and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.