Flying a drone near airports in European Union / EASA

What the rules say

Each line is resolved from published facts of European Union / EASA. "Not resolved" means the corpus does not answer it in a machine-checkable way — never that the law is silent.

• Aerodrome permissionConditional
• Protected facilitiesConditional
• Altitude relationshipYes

What changes the answer

The published rules distinguish the open category of operation.

The rules behind this answer

• Binding lawNational rule

  In-flight Geographical Zone Compliance

  During the flight, the remote pilot must comply with the operational limitations defined for geographical zones.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• GuidanceNational rule

  Observation of the Operating Environment

  EASA accepts that the remote pilot observes the operating environment and checks for conditions that might affect safety, such as people, property, vehicles, public roads, obstacles, aerodromes, and critical infrastructure, as a means of complying with UAS.OPEN.060(1)(c).

  Open the requirementOfficial source

Official sources

• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 — European Union Aviation Safety AgencyOpen
• EASA Easy Access Rules for UAS — European Union Aviation Safety AgencyOpen

Known limitations

• 4 dimension(s) of this topic are not expressed in a machine-resolvable way by the published corpus and are reported UNKNOWN, never FALSE.

Other drone rules in European Union / EASA

• Do I need to register my drone in European Union / EASA?Registration in European Union / EASA is governed by a published mass threshold of 0.25 kg, alongside the further conditions cited below. Whether it applies to a given flight depends on those conditions, each cited to its rule.
• Do I need Remote ID in European Union / EASA?Remote identification in European Union / EASA is framed by a published mass threshold of 25 kg, together with the aircraft and operation conditions cited below. Whether a given flight must carry or broadcast an electronic identity depends on those conditions.
• What is the maximum drone altitude in European Union / EASA?Drone flights in European Union / EASA are held to a published general height limit of 120 m above_nearest_obstacle. The limit is not absolute: the published conditions that change it are cited below.
• When does a drone operation need authorisation in European Union / EASA?Whether an operation in European Union / EASA needs prior authorisation depends on the operational category, risk class or location: the published triggers below decide it.
• What training do I need to fly a drone in European Union / EASA?Remote pilot competency in European Union / EASA scales with the operation: which training, examination or proof of competency applies is set by the published conditions below.
• Do I need drone insurance in European Union / EASA?Drone insurance in European Union / EASA is published with a minimum third-party cover of 20 kg. Whether cover is required for a given flight depends on the published conditions below.

All drone laws in European Union / EASA