HONG KONG – The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will gazette legislative amendments on Friday to facilitate the development of the low-altitude economy in the city.

The amendment orders will be tabled at the Legislative Council on May 28, with a targeted commencement date of July 18, according to the government.

The Small Unmanned Aircraft (Amendment) Order 2025 serves to extend the existing regulatory regime with a proposal to add a new category C, covering aircraft that weigh over 25kg but not more than 150kg.

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Anyone operating category C aircraft will have to obtain prior permission from the Civil Aviation Department.

Insurance requirements have also been proposed.

In addition, there is a proposal to permit a statutory fee to be charged on a full cost-recovery basis.

Anyone conducting cross-boundary small unmanned aircraft (SUA) operations, regardless of the weight of the SUA deployed, will have to obtain prior permission from the department, according to the government.

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The revised law also proposes that information about any SUA operated under the department’s prior permission should be kept for six months and be accessible within Hong Kong.

As regards air navigation, the Air Navigation (Hong Kong) Order 1995 (Amendment) Order 2025 will facilitate trials of various unconventional aircraft in Hong Kong. New articles are proposed to empower the chief executive to permit such trials under specified conditions.

“In order to tie in with the overall national development, the government has been proactively taking forward various initiatives to promote low-altitude economy development in Hong Kong, and it is imperative to establish a robust legal and regulatory framework for the emerging technologies for low-altitude economy,” said a spokesman for the Transport and Logistics Bureau.

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The proposed legislative amendments can tap into the potential of heavier SUA units and facilitate trial flights for unconventional aircraft, thus expanding and enriching application scenarios for different low-altitude flying activities, the spokesman said.

“In the longer term, the Government is also studying a new and customized piece of legislation regulating different types of unconventional aircraft,” added the spokesman.