Flying a drone near airports in Germany

What the rules say

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

• Distance restriction100 mConditional
• Aerodrome permissionConditional
• Controlled airspace permissionConditional
• Protected facilitiesConditional
• Digital authorisationConditional
• Altitude relationshipYes
• ExceptionsConditional

What changes the answer

• location

  Lateral distance at or below 100 m

• location

  Distance of 5 km

• location

  Lateral distance below 1000 m

• location

  Lateral distance at or below 1.5 km

• location

  Lateral distance at or below 1000 m

The rules behind this answer

• Binding lawNational rule

  Air Traffic Control Clearance in Controlled Airspace and Airfield Airspace

  An air traffic control clearance must be obtained from the competent air traffic control unit before operating an unmanned aircraft system or model aircraft in controlled airspace or in the airspace over airfields with an air traffic control unit.

  Open the requirement
• Binding lawNational rule

  Authority to Establish U-Space Airspaces

  The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure or a designated federal authority may establish U-Space airspaces.

  Open the requirement
• Binding lawNational rule

  Competent authority for establishing restricted areas and approving deviations

  The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure is responsible for establishing restricted areas and approving deviations under SERA.3145.

  Open the requirement
• Binding lawNational rule

  LuftVO § 17 - section overview

  This section designates the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure as the authority responsible for establishing restricted airspaces and approving deviations, and prohibits flying through restricted areas unless permitted by the restrictions or approved by the competent air navigation authorities.

  Open the requirement
• Binding lawNational rule

  LuftVO § 21h - section overview

  This section empowers the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (or a designated federal authority) to establish additional geographical zones and U-Space airspaces, and sets out administrative evaluation requirements for existing geographical zone rules.

  Open the requirement
• Binding lawNational rule

  Prohibition on flying through restricted areas without authorization

  You must not fly through restricted areas (Gebiete mit Flugbeschränkungen) unless the restrictions permit it, or the Federal Supervisory Authority for Air Navigation Services (BAF) or the competent air traffic control unit has approved the flight.

  Open the requirement
• Binding lawNational rule

  Subsidiary Scope of the German Air Traffic Regulation

  The Luftverkehrs-Ordnung (LuftVO) applies to air traffic in Germany only to the extent that EU Regulations (EU) No 923/2012 and (EU) 2019/947 are not applicable or do not contain specific rules.

  Open the requirement

Official sources

• Luftverkehrs-Ordnung (LuftVO) — Landesluftfahrtbehoerden

Other drone rules in Germany

• Do I need to register my drone in Germany?Registration in Germany 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 Germany?Drone flights in Germany 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 over people in Germany?Flight over uninvolved people is treated as a higher-risk operation in Germany: it is available only where the published conditions below — class, mass, separation or authorisation — are satisfied.
• When does a drone operation need authorisation in Germany?Whether an operation in Germany 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 Germany?Remote pilot competency in Germany 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 Germany?Drone insurance in Germany is published with a minimum third-party cover of 0.75 million SDR. Whether cover is required for a given flight depends on the published conditions below.

All drone laws in Germany