Overview for drone classes, flight categories, required licenses, flight restrictions and other rules in Switzerland (and EU)

2026-08-07

This focues on Switzerland, which follows EU regulations. Those allow countries to deviate from the EU rules in some points. When the difference is relevant, it is noted as such.

If you want to build your own drone (eg. for racing/freestyle FPV), the lines about privately build drones are the most relevant for you.

If you want to fly a pre-built drone (eg. a DJI camera drone), the CIL-labels tell you how you are allowed to fly them. You do not have to worry about the exact requirements for those CIL-labels.

If you want to fly in a special category (>25kg, BVLOS, dangerous cargo, dropping cargo, over crowds, etc), things are more complicated and you should look at the BAZL/EASA websites.

Sources

BAZL: Flight rules for drones
BAZL: Training and certificates for remote pilots
EASA: Open Category - Low Risk
Requirements for CIL-labels: EU regulation 2019/945 (available on the EASA page).

Note regarding CIL class labels

CIL class labels are mostly relevant for manufacturers, as they have to make sure they are fulfilled (not you as a customer). As a pilot, the class just indicates how/in what category you are allowed to fly the drone.

I've seen many overviews online oversimplify this to only mean weight categories, ignoring other factors and treating some CIL-classes as identical to legacy or privately build drones. This leads to some errors, like confusing C3 and C4, claiming C4 is >25kg, or ignoring other limits (including the EASA overview below, which ignores the max speed for A1 drone operation).

Note regarding Remote ID

Remote ID is an on-board transmitter that broadcasts operator ID, the drones position and more. Remote ID should not be confused with the UAS operator number.

In Switzerland, Remote ID is required for all drones except class C0 drones, legacy drones and privately built drones (EU: Remote ID required for all drones with CIL-labels, which includes C0).

You still need to mark your drone with your UAS operator number!

Overview

Drone Class	Description	Sub-category (possible operation modes)	Required license	Restrictions when flying	Comment
C0, or legacy or privately built <250g	<250g Max speed of 19m/s (BAZL: privately built drones, EASA: C0 requirements)	A1	none	VLOS Max height 120m Avoid overflying uninvolved people No overflying crowds	The max speed means most privately built freestyle and racing drones have to operate in category A3 (which has no speed limit). Considered a toy if not equipped with a camera (meaning no drone registration required) Children under 12 may only fly under supervision of trained pilot that is at least 16 (EU: no minimum age)
C1	250g-900g Max speed of 19m/s (EASA: C1 requirements)	A1	A1/A3	VLOS Max height 120m Avoid overflying uninvolved people No overflying crowds	Note that pre-built drones (with a CIL-label) up to 900g can fly over uninvolved people, while for privately built ones the limit is 250g. There are some pre-built C1 FPV drones (eg. the DJI Avata at 455g) Min. age: 12 by countries (EU: 16)
C2	900g-4kg	A2 A3	A1/A3 + A2 (for flying in sub-category A2) A1/A3	VLOS Max height 120m No overflying uninvolved people No overflying crowds Min. horizonal distance 30m (5m in low speed mode)	A2 is meant for flying close to people in. age: 12 by countries (EU: 16)
C3, or legacy or privately built >250g	<25kg	A3	A1/A3	VLOS Max height 120m No overflying uninvolved people No overflying crowds	Class C3 has some additional requirements , like RemoteID, geo-awareness, and size <3m (does _not_ apply to legacy or privately built drones) Min. age: 12 by countries (EU: 16)
C4	<25kg	A3	A1/A3	VLOS Max height 120m No overflying uninvolved people No overflying crowds	Mainly used for RC aircrafts, not drones. Is not allowed to have automatic flight modes allowed. Min. age: 12 by countries (EU: 16)
C5	VLOS over populated environment	specialized (not open category)	specialized	specialized
C6	BVLOS with observers	specialized (not open category)	specialized	specialized

Overview by EASA

EASA also provides an overview (see: EASA: open category - low risk), but it lacks some details (eg. as stated above regarding speed limit for privately build <250g drones).