How To Get Commercial Drone License In Dubai

In today’s world, people always strive to make better technology that would result in more productivity and efficiency to work. Back in World War I, US and France had work on developing unmanned and automatic airplanes. However, in the last few years there has been an enormous usage of drone adoption terms. Various sectors has started realizing the importance of using an unmanned object to reach out remote areas where even human beings are not able to reach. The adoption of drone technology has helped in increasing the work efficiency, productivity, improved accuracy, refining of service and customers relations. We also see that drones are used for resolving security issues on a large scale. With the introduction of drone technology, many organizations have started to realize the potential, scope and the kind of issues it can resolve.

What is a Drone?

A Drone is an unmanned aircraft. A drone can be easily understood as a flying bot that can be remotely controlled or flown automatically through the use of specialized software.

Drone License in Dubai

Drones are used for commercial or recreational purposes. The drones used for commercial purpose, the blue colored commercial cards are issued to the registered owners and the red colored hobbyist cards are issued to those registered owners using for recreational purpose. To fly a Drone in Dubai, one needs to register the drone with DCAA (Dubai Civil Aviation Authority). All users need to follow the privacy and safety measures while operating a drone. GCAA does not allow drones to be operated in the residential premises or more populated areas as well as near Airports. In order to be legally flying a drone in Dubai for commercial purpose, one need to have a drone license and the first step would be to obtain an NOC from the DCAA.

Steps on Acquiring a Drone License

1. 1. Register on the official site of GCAA in order to obtain the NOC for aerial works
   2. Ensure to provide the contact details, date, time and the co-ordinates of the flight
   3. As we are looking into flights for commercial activity we will need to submit a copy of approval from the right authority, if drone is going to be used for filming than the approval needs to be issued from SFTC(Dubai Film & TV Commission) and also an additional approval need to be obtained from the Ministry of Defense. The charges depend on the location of the film
   4. Upon successful completion of all the above steps along with the relevant fees for each of the approval and online fees to DCAA, a drone permit will be issued to start flying the drone commercially or also for aerial filming

Above all its important to understand that once the drone permit is issued, the laws pertaining to the flight of drones need to be strictly followed in order to avoid any kind of fines.

General Rules for Flying a Drone in Dubai

A set of rules have been given by DCAA to be followed to fly a Drone in Dubai.

1. 1. • Obtain a training certificate from one of the DCAA approved training centers named Sanad Academy or Exponent.
      • Register the drone with DCAA by providing the below mentioned details/documents
        1. Company Name and Address
        2. Company Trade / commercial license
        3. Name and contact details of the Remotely Piloted Aircrafts (RPAS) operator emirates ID, passport copy, white background photography and the visa page
        4. Operator training certificate
        5. Insurance of the tourist, national ID, flight booking of the tourist
      • Obtaining of the NOC from DCAA
      • Avoid accidents with people, object and other aircrafts
      • Not allowed to threaten people, or damage properties
      • Do not operate Drones near to airports
      • Always use the drones to fly only in those designated areas as per local law

This blog is written by Ms. Florine, Director (Client Relationship) at Flyingcolour Business Setup, Accounting & Tax Services in Dubai & across UAE . Feel free to call us for more info regarding getting a commercial drone operating license in Dubai or anywhere in UAE. You can also send your inquiry to info[at]flyingcolour[dot]com or call +971 4 4542366.