Deployment Pathways Advanced Air Mobility 2025

interfering with commercial air traffic or densely populated areas. Such environments are especially valuable for regulators and operators to advance expertise in complex operations through controlled experimentation in areas that matter. Specific testing environments include: –Gated, master-planned zones or managed operational areas that offer managed airspace and integrated infrastructure, enabling safer trials. Examples of this could include the Red Sea Project, Roshan gated communities and the Holy Sites in Makkah and Medinah, among others. –Hub-to-hub corridors between ports, logistics hubs and/or healthcare clusters are well suited for mid-mile drone delivery, minimizing urban navigation and regulatory friction. –Designated demonstration areas provide an opportunity to build public awareness, gather feedback and allow regulators to observe operations in action.3. Regulatory enablement Saudi Arabia is implementing a phased and use case-driven regulatory approach that allows for controlled testing while maintaining aviation safety standards17 under the GACA Part 107 framework (see Box 1). What differentiates it from other jurisdictions is the way regulatory efforts are being linked to Vision 2030 priorities and giga-projects (as demonstrated in Figure 1), where advanced mobility is built into long-term planning. GACA has also signed international cooperation agreements with authorities such as the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), ensuring that Saudi regulations remain aligned with global practices while positioning the Kingdom as an early mover in the region. BVLOS under GACA Part 107 BOX 1 BVLOS operations are a critical step for scaling mid-mile cargo delivery and autonomous missions. Unlike visual line of sight (VLS) flights, BVLOS allows drones to cover meaningful distances and connect real economic clusters. Unlocking BVLOS requires advanced safety assurance, reliable communications and robust regulatory approvals, which are barriers difficult to overcome in high-traffic airspaces. Saudi Arabia’s low-density skies lower these barriers, offering a conducive environment to test and validate BVLOS while linking real points of demand, such as NEOM, with major distribution hubs. In Saudi Arabia, BVLOS operations fall under the Specific Category of GACA’s Part 107 regulations. Unlike the Open Category, which only covers low-risk flights under strict limitations, BVLOS is not permitted by default. Instead, operators must obtain an operational authorization (OA) or a UAS operator certificate (UOC), supported by a detailed operational risk assessment (ORA) that demonstrates how risks will be managed. When BVLOS flights rely on segregated or temporary corridors, additional approval from local air traffic control (ATC) is required before GACA can issue authorization. Because standard scenarios for BVLOS have not yet been published, every approval is considered case by case, requiring close coordination between operators and regulators. This careful, phased approach functions as a regulatory sandbox, allowing innovation in BVLOS while maintain high levels of safety and oversight. Source: General Authority for Civil Aviation18