Drone operational authorisation in United Arab Emirates

What the rules say

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

• Authorisation requiredConditional
• Trigger statedConditional
• Issuing authorityConditional
• Application modelpermitYes
• Risk assessmentConditional
• Standard scenario routeNot resolved
• Declaration routeNot resolved
• Generic or organisational privilegeNot resolved
• ValidityConditional
• Repeat operationsNot resolved
• Digital applicationConditional

The rules behind this answer

• Binding lawNational rule

  Access for Oversight and Inspection

  The UA operator must grant the GCAA or LAA access at any time to their facilities, equipment, documents, records, data, procedures, or any other material relevant to their activity.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawNational rule

  Aerial Photography Authorization

  The use of aerial photographic apparatus installed on a UA is prohibited without prior authorization from the Security Sector of the GCAA or LAA.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawNational rule

  Airspace Approval for Practical Training

  The training organisation must submit its proposed airspace for practical training to the GCAA for acceptance.

  Open the requirementOfficial source
• Binding lawNational rule

  Airspace Approval Requirement

  The UA operator must obtain UA Airspace Approval prior to any UA operation, unless the flight is conducted within interior building space, exterior building airspace (within 10 meters of the facade or 5 meters above the roof outside airport boundaries), or an active Drone Fly Zone.

  Open the requirementOfficial source

Official sources

• GCAA CAR-UAEX Issue 02 (corrected) — Unmanned Aircraft (UA) experimentation operations — Dubai Civil Aviation AuthorityOpen
• GCAA CAR-UAEV Issue 02 — Unmanned Aircraft (UA) event operations — Dubai Civil Aviation AuthorityOpen
• GCAA CAR-UAC Issue 02 — Unmanned Aircraft (UA) commercial and governmental operations — Dubai Civil Aviation AuthorityOpen
• GCAA CAR-UA-ATO Issue 01 — Unmanned aircraft approved training organisations — Dubai Civil Aviation AuthorityOpen
• GCAA CAR-UAD Issue 02 (corrected) — Unmanned Aircraft (UA) demonstration operations — Dubai Civil Aviation AuthorityOpen

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 United Arab Emirates

• Do I need to register my drone in United Arab Emirates?Registration in United Arab Emirates depends on the aircraft and the operation: it applies once the published conditions below are met, each cited to the rule that sets it.
• What is the maximum drone altitude in United Arab Emirates?Drone flights in United Arab Emirates are held to a published general height limit of 121.92 m AGL. The limit is not absolute: the published conditions that change it are cited below.
• Can I fly a drone near an airport in United Arab Emirates?Drone flights near aerodromes in United Arab Emirates are governed by airspace and aerodrome restrictions: whether permission is needed depends on the airspace, distance or aerodrome type published below.
• What training do I need to fly a drone in United Arab Emirates?Remote pilot competency in United Arab Emirates 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 United Arab Emirates?Yes. Published rules in United Arab Emirates require insurance cover for the operations covered here.

All drone laws in United Arab Emirates