MLIT clarifies Category II flight routes over populated areas (29 September 2026)

Drone Assistant detected a material change in MLIT/JCAB — 飛行許可・承認申請手続 (MLIT/JCAB), reviewed and confirmed by a human before publication. What changed on the official page: on 29 September 2026 MLIT announced an amendment to its Category II flight permission and approval review guidelines, clarifying how a beyond-visual-line-of-sight flight route without assistants may be set over areas where people or houses are concentrated, and updated its safe-flight guideline and Level 3.5 flight case examples. Drone Assistant already covers this route criterion as published guidance. Coverage added by Drone Assistant, not new on the page: MLIT's earlier notice that the application shortcuts for website-listed aircraft and website-listed private skill certifications ended on 18 December 2025. That date is unchanged; it is not a new October 2026 rule. The changed source is official guidance from MLIT/JCAB. It is not a new law or rule, and binding rules are unchanged by this update.