Flying a drone at night in Finland
Can I fly a drone at night in Finland?
Limited guide. Drone Assistant's coverage of Finland is still under review, so this page summarises only the published rules we can cite to an official source. It is not a complete statement of Finland's drone law; check the linked sources or ask the assistant about your own flight.
No. A published rule in Finland prohibits night operations for the operations covered here.
Whether flying at night is allowed, and which lighting or authorisation applies.
What the rules say
Each line is resolved from published facts of Finland. "Not resolved" means the corpus does not answer it in a machine-checkable way — never that the law is silent.
- Night flight permittedNo
- Lighting requirementConditional
- Pilot requirementYes
- Operational conditionsConditional
- ExceptionsNo
What changes the answer
- altitude
Flight altitude at or above 1000 ft
- altitude
Flight altitude at or above 300 m
- altitude
Flight altitude below 18000 m
- altitude
Flight altitude below 60000 ft
- location
Radius of 8 km
The rules behind this answer
- Binding lawNational rule
2.39 - section overview
This section regulates unmanned free balloons in Finland. It clarifies that no additional national regulations apply to light unmanned free balloons used solely for meteorological purposes beyond Appendix 2, and mandates lighting for heavy unmanned free balloons operated at night below 18,000 meters pressure altitude.
- Binding lawNational rule
Minimum flight altitude for night VFR flights
Night VFR flights must be flown at an altitude of at least 300 meters (1,000 feet) above the highest obstacle within an 8-kilometer radius of the aircraft's estimated position.
- Binding lawNational rule
Night lighting requirement for heavy unmanned free balloons
Heavy unmanned free balloons must not be operated below a pressure altitude of 18,000 meters (60,000 feet) at night unless the balloon, its auxiliary parts, and its payload are illuminated.
- Binding lawNational rule
OPS M1-1 kohta 2.13.3 - section overview
This section establishes the minimum flight altitude for night VFR flights in Finland, requiring aircraft to fly at least 300 meters (1,000 feet) above the highest obstacle within an 8 km radius, except during takeoff, landing, or when operating under aviation regulation OPS M1-15.
- Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule
Green Flashing Light for Night Operations
When operating at night, the remote pilot must ensure that a green flashing light on the unmanned aircraft is activated.
- Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule
Lights for Night Conspicuity
The UA must be equipped with lights for conspicuity at night, designed to allow a person on the ground to distinguish the UA from manned aircraft.
- Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule
Part 3 - section overview
This section outlines the product requirements for Class C1 Unmanned Aircraft Systems, specifically detailing requirements for low battery warnings, controllability and night conspicuity lighting, user manual contents, and the inclusion of an EASA information notice.
Official sources
Known limitations
- Binding law and official guidance disagree on night_operations.pilot_requirement; the binding position is published.
- 1 dimension(s) of this topic are not expressed in a machine-resolvable way by the published corpus and are reported UNKNOWN, never FALSE.
How this works across countries: Night flying
Other drone rules in Finland
- Do I need to register my drone in Finland?Registration in Finland 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.
- What is the maximum drone altitude in Finland?Drone flights in Finland 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.
- Can I fly a drone near an airport in Finland?Drone flights near aerodromes in Finland are governed by airspace and aerodrome restrictions: whether permission is needed depends on the airspace, distance or aerodrome type published below.
- When does a drone operation need authorisation in Finland?Whether an operation in Finland 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 Finland?Remote pilot competency in Finland scales with the operation: which training, examination or proof of competency applies is set by the published conditions below.
Built around official regulatory sources
- Official sources
- Regulation-level citations
- Coverage and freshness checks
- Location-aware data where available
Built from 5 published facts (5 binding), each resting only on the 9 citable published rules for Finland (8 shown above). Sources last verified 2026-08-22. Page built 2026-10-07 (dataset ds_4w2tpw7xmph8a92vstdt6prfbm).
Ask Drone Assistant about night operations in Finland
This page answers "Can I fly a drone at night in Finland?" for the general case. Ask about your own aircraft, weight and location to see which of the 8 rules above actually apply to you.
This page gives general regulatory information. It is not flight clearance, operational authorisation or legal advice, and it does not guarantee that a flight is legal. See sources and methodology and terms.