The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Interior, in coordination with the National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, the General AuCivil Aviation Authority and relevant authorities, has announced the partial “phased and conditional” lifting of the ban on drone flights. Restrictions have been in place since 2022 following incidents of misuse.
The decision, effective from today (November 25), coincides with the General Civil Aviation Authority’s launch of a unified national platform for uncrewed aerial systems (UAS). This is an interactive platform that aims to register and organise operations and define the requirements for using UAS. The platform provides a unified centre to facilitate procedures for users by involving all relevant parties in one place.
The launch of the first phase of the platform is limited to serving companies and government agencies only. Future phases will be launched later to include other UAS services, such as flying operations for amateur individuals, and will be announced in due course.
To obtain a drone operator’s license companies, government institutions, research centres and air shows need to use the UAE Drones smart application, following the steps shown to obtain a permit to carry out the operation. The operator must also use the operation application via the UAE Drones application, and verify the availability of a remote identity broadcast system in the drones. If a remote identity broadcast system is not available, the operator (permit applicant) can contact telecommunications company Etisalat via email to provide a tracking device.
To protect public safety and security, users must report any incident that causes harm or affects the safety of people or public or private property. This is done by following the incident reporting procedures as stated in the issued regulations and by accessing the “Incident Report” on the unified national platform UAE Drones, filling out the report form and providing the required information. The Ministry of Interior states that the purpose of collecting these reports is to improve the standards of operating UAS, which will lead to maintaining the safety and security of individuals, society and property.
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