As part of LAANC (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability), the FAA has worked with airports to map controlled airspace in a more granular way with ceilings based on airport layout, traffic patterns, and any other considerations that airport operators considered relevant to UAS.
UAS Facility Maps show the maximum altitudes around airports where the FAA may authorize part 107 UAS operations without additional safety analysis. The maps should be used to inform requests for part 107 airspace authorizations and waivers in controlled airspace.
There are nearly 500 airports with published FAA facility maps, though only a handful are participating in the LAANC pilot.
These maps remove ambiguity of whether or not a flight should be approved, whether with LAANC or manual authorizations.
Commercial UAS operators still need authorization to fly in this areas (whether thanks to LAANC or a manual authorization approach). These maps are designed to give pilots and UAV operators a clean, intuitive user interface to understand controlled airspace and where operations might be able to gain approval for commercial flight.
These maps are live on iOS and coming soon to the rest of the Kittyhawk platform, including web and Android.
