Part 108 Operating Permit vs Certificate: Which Path Fits Your BVLOS Plan?

No Part 108 operating permit or certificate is available to apply for today. Current Part 107 rules and any existing waiver or exemption still govern your flights.

The proposed Part 108 rule offers two paths for routine beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) work: an operating permit for more limited operations and an operating certificate for larger or more complex ones. These are authorizations for an operator, not replacements for a person’s Part 107 remote pilot certificate. The difference is not simply how big your business is. The mission, aircraft weight, fleet size, operating area, ground risk, and level of FAA oversight all matter.

This guide separates what the FAA actually proposed from a practical planning exercise. Nothing here is a filing instruction until a final rule and FAA application process exist. For the wider rule and current status, read our Part 108 overview and live status tracker.

The short answer: permit or certificate?

Start with the operation, not the company name. Under the August 2025 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), a permit would cover certain lower-risk, bounded operations, with limits that vary by category. A certificate would allow more complex operations, potentially larger aircraft and fleets and more flexibility over people, in exchange for a deeper application and continuing FAA oversight. Some proposed activities, such as training, demonstrations, recreation and flight tests, have a permit path but no ordinary certificate category. The FAA also proposed case-by-case authority for other operations, not a loophole to exceed a named category’s limits.

Question	Proposed operating permit	Proposed operating certificate
Typical role	Bounded BVLOS operations within category-specific limits	More complex or scaled BVLOS operations
Named purposes	Delivery, agriculture, surveying, civic interest, training, demonstrations, recreation, flight tests	Delivery, agriculture, surveying, civic interest
Fleet and aircraft	Category-specific size, weight and fleet limits	Greater scope, still subject to category and FAA limits
Application	Operation details, area, equipment and compliance evidence	Permit-level information plus training, risk assessments, safety management and more
Term	Proposed 24-month duration, then a new application	No fixed expiration under the proposal, with ongoing FAA surveillance

Important: A certificate is not a blanket permission to fly anywhere with any aircraft. Both paths would still require FAA approval of intended operating areas and compliance with the rule, the aircraft’s limitations and any conditions on the authorization.

What a permit would let you do

The NPRM names eight permit purposes: package delivery, agriculture, aerial surveying, civic interest, UAS operations training, demonstrations, recreational activity and flight tests. The specific limits differ. Do not carry a weight or fleet figure from one purpose to another. For example, the FAA’s own preamble says a package-delivery operating permit would be limited to aircraft at or below 55 pounds and a fleet of no more than 100 aircraft. It gives that example to explain why an operator could not stack two delivery permits to double the fleet. The proposal generally limits an operator to one permit per category, with an exception for flight-test permits.

The permit would not be a generic BVLOS pass. The applicant would describe the operation, aircraft, people and procedures, and seek approval for the area where it intends to fly. The FAA could request more information and place conditions on the approval. A permit holder would renew by applying for a new permit before the proposed 24-month term expires. The draft allows a renewal application up to 120 days before expiration.

For a small surveying crew, the permit route may be the natural first question, but only after checking the surveying category’s own aircraft, fleet and ground-risk limits. A three-drone mapping plan over fields is not automatically permitted merely because it sounds small. The aircraft and approved operating area matter. And if the mission crosses into a higher-risk area, the category’s limits may push the operator toward certification or make the plan unavailable as described.

What changes with a certificate

The NPRM proposes operating certificates for delivery, agriculture, aerial surveying and civic interest, plus an avenue for the FAA to evaluate other operations case by case. The certificate route is designed for more advanced operations than the permit route. The FAA describes larger aircraft or fleets and greater flexibility over people, but not freedom from conditions. Category 4 operating areas, which the proposal ties to a population-density threshold, would require a certificate and face other limitations. It would be a mistake to conclude that a certificate alone authorizes every dense urban flight.

Certificate applicants would provide the basic operational information required of permit applicants and additional material. The FAA lists a training program, communication and ground-risk assessments, a safety management system (SMS), a hazardous-materials program, procedures for inoperative equipment and a duty-and-rest compliance plan. Delivery applicants would also document citizenship status. The FAA describes a collaborative review similar to Part 135 certification, with a certificate management team, manual and program review, demonstrations, and continuing surveillance after approval.

That is a serious organizational commitment. A certificate holder would need systems that work when a coordinator hands a flight to another coordinator, a link fails, an aircraft is grounded or a hazard appears. Our guides to the proposed Operations Supervisor and Flight Coordinator explain the split between safety authority and flight-level execution. A training binder copied from a template will not demonstrate a real operation’s readiness.

Three decisions operators can walk through now

1. A surveying company wants to map a rural utility corridor

First define the aircraft, fleet, route, population exposure and communications. A surveying permit is one of the named paths, so compare the actual plan with that category’s proposed limits. If it fits, the permit may avoid the larger certification process. If the plan requires aircraft, fleet or ground-risk privileges outside those limits, a certificate may be needed. Neither answer follows from the words “utility corridor” alone. Today, the operator still needs to work under current Part 107 authority and any applicable BVLOS waiver or exemption.

2. A delivery network grows from a pilot to hundreds of aircraft

Under the proposal, the FAA’s package-delivery permit example caps that fleet at 100 aircraft and the aircraft at 55 pounds. It expressly rules out stacking two permits in the same category to bypass that cap. An operator planning 250 aircraft would need to evaluate the certificate path, not split the fleet on paper. The certificate application would require operating systems and evidence of safe scale, not merely a larger number on a form. A delivery mission may also raise separate air-carrier and security questions, so do not treat the Part 108 choice as the entire legal review.

3. A manufacturer wants flight tests in two development programs

Flight testing is a proposed permit purpose, not one of the four named certificate purposes. It is also the stated exception to the one-permit-per-category rule: the FAA recognized that a manufacturer may need to test more than one aircraft for more than one type of operation. That exception does not turn a flight-test permit into a commercial-delivery authorization. Define what is being tested and the allowed operating area before assuming it covers production flights.

Common wrong turns

• “I already have Part 107, so I will apply for a Part 108 certificate.” Part 107 is an individual’s remote pilot certificate. The proposed Part 108 permit or certificate belongs to the operating organization and authorizes defined BVLOS operations. They answer different questions.
• “I’ll request an ‘other operation’ permit to beat the delivery cap.” The FAA explicitly rejects using that flexibility to evade limits on a named category.
• “A certificate never expires, so oversight ends after approval.” The proposed certificate has no set expiry because the FAA expects routine surveillance and can suspend or revoke it.
• “Every Part 108 drone can weigh 1,320 pounds.” That is the proposal’s overall upper figure, not a universal allowance. Category limits may be 55 or 110 pounds, and other restrictions still apply.
• “Part 108 is open for applications now.” It is not. This article describes a proposed structure, and the final rule could change it.

What to prepare without pretending the rule is final

Write down a mission before buying a “Part 108 ready” system. Identify purpose, aircraft and payload weight, fleet count, route, altitude, people on the ground, airspace, command link, lost-link response, personnel and maintenance records. Then mark which assumptions depend on draft text. If the business case requires a certificate, budget time for a real training program, safety management and FAA review. If a permit appears sufficient, do not skip the area approval or the limits specific to the permit category.

Keep current operations compliant under today’s rules while the final rule is pending. A proposed permit is not a waiver. If your present mission requires a Part 107 BVLOS waiver or a different exemption, the NPRM has not erased that requirement. Before building a launch date into a client contract, recheck the status tracker and the final Federal Register text when it arrives.

Primary source: FAA and TSA, Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations, 90 FR 38212 (August 7, 2025), especially section VIII and proposed §§ 108.400-108.575. The source is a notice of proposed rulemaking, not an effective final regulation.

Turn these operating-path decisions into a mission evidence folder with our Part 108 readiness checklist. It covers routes, aircraft, crew, lost-link decisions, records and application gaps while the rule remains proposed.