Flying a drone near airports in Sweden

What the rules say

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

• Distance restriction1000 mYes
• Aerodrome permissionConditional
• Controlled airspace permissionConditional
• Protected facilitiesConditional
• Digital authorisationYes
• Altitude relationshipConditional
• ExceptionsConditional

What changes the answer

The published rules distinguish the open category of operation.

• altitude

  Flight altitude below 10 m

• location

  Horizontal distance at least 5000 m

• location

  Horizontal distance below 1000 m

• other

  Speed at most 25 m/s

• altitude

  Flight altitude below 50 m

The rules behind this answer

• Binding lawNational rule

  Fines for UAS breaches – luftfartsförordningen 13 kap. 1 § p.19, 1 a § p.5 and p.10, exceptions 2 § (SFS 2025:1070)

  Under luftfartsförordningen (2010:770) 13 kap., as amended by Förordning (2025:1070), a fine (böter) applies to anyone who intentionally or negligently: (a) breaches Transportstyrelsen's regulations by not carrying the competence certificate (kompetensbevis) when operating an aircraft in an unmanned aircraft system (1 § point 19); (b) breaches a provision of an EU regulation with common rules in civil aviation that this ordinance supplements, where the provision concerns authorisation or declaration for aviation activity with unmanned aircraft (1 a § point 5), or the requirement to carry a pilot licence or equivalent document, medical certificate or identity card on board an aircraft or when operating an aircraft in an unmanned aircraft system (1 a § point 10). No liability under the ordinance where the act is punishable under the Penal Code (brottsbalken), the Aviation Act (2010:500) or another law, is a breach of an order combined with a conditional fine (vite), or was committed through minor negligence (2 §). The ordinance text does not itself state a commencement date; Transportstyrelsen states the sanctions took effect on 1 January 2026.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule

  Clearance required for flight in controlled airspace (category 1 equivalent)

  Flight in controlled airspace may only take place after specific permission (clearance) from, and on the conditions given by, the air traffic control unit responsible for that airspace.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule

  Clearance required for flight in controlled airspace (category 2 equivalent)

  Flight in controlled airspace may only take place after specific permission (clearance) from, and on the conditions given by, the air traffic control unit responsible for that airspace. No height-based exemption applies to this category.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule

  Conditions for the control zone clearance exemptions

  The control zone exemptions apply only if the unmanned aircraft's speed does not exceed 25 metres per second (50 knots or 90 km/h) and the aircraft is not flown closer than 5 km from any part of the runway or runways of the aerodrome for which the control zone or traffic information zone is established.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule

  Flight in an aerodrome traffic zone (ATZ) requires consultation with the aerodrome

  In Sweden, flying an unmanned aircraft inside an aerodrome traffic zone (ATZ) may only take place after consultation (samråd) with the aerodrome concerned. This national requirement applies to operations in the open, specific and certified categories.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule

  Flight within 1 000 m of a listed heliport requires consultation with that heliport

  Flight closer than 1 000 metres to the heliports listed in AIP AD 1.1 item 11 may only take place in consultation (samråd) with the heliport concerned.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawEU/EASA framework 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
• Binding lawEU/EASA framework rule

  No clearance below 10 m in listed military control zones, subject to conditions

  No clearance is required for flights below 10 metres above ground level inside the control zones of the military aerodromes Karlsborg, Linköping/Malmen, Linköping/SAAB, Luleå/Kallax, Ronneby, Såtenäs, Uppsala, Vidsel, Visby, Hagshult and Jokkmokk, provided the conditions in 3 kap. 3 § fourth paragraph are met.

  Open the requirementOfficial source

Official sources

• Luftfartsförordning (2010:770) - Swedish Aviation Ordinance (consolidated) — Swedish Transport AgencyOpen
• TSFS 2017:110 - Transportstyrelsens föreskrifter om obemannade luftfartyg — Swedish Transport AgencyOpen
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945Open

Other drone rules in Sweden

• Do I need to register my drone in Sweden?Registration in Sweden 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 Sweden?Drone flights in Sweden 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 Sweden?Whether an operation in Sweden 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 Sweden?Remote pilot competency in Sweden scales with the operation: which training, examination or proof of competency applies is set by the published conditions below.

All drone laws in Sweden