“I live in South Africa and will be traveling to EU soon. What do I need to be able to fly there? Do all EU counties have same regulations?”
Non-EU citizens (or at least those who do not have EU qualifications as yet) wishing to perform drone operations in an EU member state should register in the first EU country where they intend to fly a drone. If you are not sure where you will be flying first, registration in any of EU countries will do. I found that registration in Poland is very easy and completely free from hassles and fees.
To register at drony.ulc.gov.pl, select the English version of the site, set up an operator profile and a pilot profile, and then put the operator’s number on the drone.
- If operations will be carried out with a drone that has a camera and weighs up to 250 g, registration alone will suffice.
- If the drone weighs more than 250 g, you will need to take an online training course and pass an online test (the whole thing will take about 50 minutes).
The training is free of charge and consists of a few dozen slides describing the applicable regulations and rules of flight.
For more information on the rules of flight operations, available ratings and the new European regulations, visit official EASA website: https://www.easa.europa.eu/en
Privileges acquired in one EU country, are valid throughout the EU.
Easy, right?
Please, note that although the drone rules are same accross the EU, there are different interpretations of the rules in respect to privacy laws and flying over properties.
In some countries as long as you have the right certification, you will be permitted to fly over properties of others, and in some others (like Germany) this is not permitted.
