General Ireland Drone Laws

  • No licenses are required if you are operating a drone in Ireland for recreational use only. Recreational use is defined as not receiving any compensation for your operations.
  • You may NOT operate a drone in Ireland higher than 120 meters vertical or farther than 500 meters horizontally from your location.
  • IAA special permission is required when operating a drone in Ireland in a congested area or inside an air traffic zone (under 8Km from an airfield boundary).
  • You may ONLY operate a drone in Ireland in Visual Meteorological Conditions. This means NO night flying, NO flying through cloud or fog, and you must be able to see the aircraft with your own eyes at all times.
  • You MUST NOT operate your drone within 150 meters of any person, vehicle, vessel, or structure not under the control of the aircraft operator. During takeoff and landing the UAV must not be flown within 50 meters of any person unless that person is under the control of the aircraft operator.
  • You MUST NOT operate your drone within 2KM of an aircraft in flight.
  • You MUST NOT operate your drone within 8KM of an aerodrome traffic zone or 8KM of aerodrome boundaries, whichever distance is greater.
  • You MUST NOT operate your drone within a congested area such as a town or village.
  • You MUST NOT operate your drone over populous areas such as other peoples back gardens, public parks or beaches, or sports grounds where there is a game in progress.

Commercial Ireland Drone Laws

  • Commercial operations which are defined as operating a UAV for compensation is prohibited without holding a ‘aerial works permission’ and ‘permission to operate an RPAS in Irish airspace’ certificate.
  • Training includes testing on the following;
  1. Aerodynamics including effects of control
  2. Aircraft limitations
  3. Aircraft technical systems machine specific
  4. Navigation
  5. Meteorology
  6. Airspace
  7. Rules of the air & law
  • A list of approved training facilities can be found here.

Application to Operate Drone Commercially in Ireland

  • Upon receiving the required licensing to operate a drone commercially you can apply to do commercial work.
  • The application must be submitted AT LEAST 30 DAYS PRIOR to the intended date of commencement of operations.
  • The form that must be completed to apply to do commercial work can be found here.

Drone Insurance in Ireland

  • Commercial drone operations require an acceptable 3rd party liability insurance. Drone insurance is NOT required in Ireland for recreational operations however it is highly recommended. To see insurance providers & rates for drones in Ireland click here.

Flying Drones In Ireland

Hire UAV Pro has many drone businesses and operators ready to assist listed on our website. You can also register your business at Hireuavpro.com to be amongst one of the most trafficked websites in the world for drone pilots and businesses. For any further questions, always refer to us by contacting hireuavpro.com directly.