In April, 2026, DJI sold me a Mini 5 Pro in the UK, with class mark C0.
Lsst week, I asked DJI Support whether it should have been class UK0, and they have kindly offered me a swap with a UK0 drone. Now, should I keep the C0 drone, or take the UK0 drone? Most of my flying is in the UK, but I have enjoyed the current freedom to fly in the EU with a EASA Operator ID and Flyer ID (both free from AlphaTango in France).
I know that the CAA treat C0 as equivalent to UK0 until end-2027, thereafter as legacy. I don’t know how the EASA treat a UK0 drone now, or in the future.
I expect that replacing the drone means re-registering it with the DJI, CAA, EASA, Coverdrone, and FPV UK.
The C0 and UK0 class marks both allow a tolerance on weight, which is why the Mini 5 Pro has been classified under these marks despite the fact that that they weigh more than 250 grams. They generally weigh 253 grams with standard batteries.
If marked UK0 it’s pretty much future proofed and can fly in A1 and A3 but if marked C0 when after 31 December 2027, European C-class markings are no longer recognised in the UK it becomes a legacy drone.
Here in lies a potential problem as legacy drones are limited purely by weight ( and I have looked to see if there is any tolerance on the weight but cant see one… anyone have more info on this ).
So if the above is correct a C0 marked Mini 5 Pro would fall into the 250gm to 25Kg band and only be flyable in A3
Whereas a UK0 marked one could remain in A1 as well as A3.
If it turns out there is also a tolerance on legacy weights then ignore my waffle
I don’t know about the Mini 5 Pro, but the Lito X1 sold in the UK comes with both markings, UK and European. I would expect it to be the same for the Mini 5 Pro but someone who owns one is better placed to confirm that.
Come 2027 the mini 5 pro won’t be affected as it’s a sub 250g drone. Manufacturers have a tolerance so if it’s over 250g due to the manufacturing process then it’s fine. The only aircraft currently on the market that might be adversely affected is the Air 3S with a C1 label. But, the CAA have said it’s up to the manufacturer to decide if they want to respectively change its C marking to a UK marking. And DJI are generally pretty good with that.
No it’s not a sub 250gm drone. All sub 250gm drones from DJI like the Mini 4 pro etc are marked as such. Both on the drone itself and on the Website. The Mini 5 Pro has no such sub 250gm statements. The Mini 5 pro is however a 249.9 g ± 4 gm drone i.e. complaint with the C0 / UK0 classification. They are typically 253 grams within the class spec but over 250 grams,
Any UK0 marked ones are fine for the future for A1 and A3 flying out of the box. As UK0 will remain valid.
After 31 December 2027 the C0 European classification is no longer valid in the UK and any C0 marked drones will become legacy drones. Below 250gm they can be flown A1 and A3. above 250 and below 25Kg A3 only.
Legacy drones are strictly classed on weight and despite looking I can’t find any published tolerance on legacy drone weight classification.
So a C0 marked Mini 5 Pro after that date at 253 grams would not be below 250.
I’d love to be proven wrong on this or the CAA to publish a weight tolerance for legacy drones. But as it stands this doesn’t seem to be the case.It’s an absolute weight.
I agree with you on the Air 3S I have a C1 version
That’s a great point actually and I hadn’t considered the ones that are over. I guess some will be fine and some won’t! Hopefully DJI and the CAA will come out with some guidance. It seems silly to me to penalise a drone due to manufacturer weight tolerances.
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