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Drone Licenses In Ireland - What do I need to know?

• Typically, to fly a drone in Ireland you need a license to fly anything that has a camera or weights over 250 grams. This is most drones.

• The “licenses" are broken down into three distinct categories:

  • The Open Category

  • The Specific Category

  • The Certified Category

• The Open category is for low risk UAV operations and is designed for most hobby pilots. It allows people to fly very light drones close to people or heavy drones far away from people. It does not allow for flying big heavy drones close to or over people. It also has limited in how high you can go and where you can fly with specific types of drones.

  • The Open Category has three distinct licenses:

    • A1

    • A2

    • A3

• The Specific category is for medium risk operations and is designed for medium risk hobby activities and professional drone operators. It is designed to allow all flying that is not allowed in the Open Category. Training, operations manuals, risk assessments and all sorts are required if you wish to operate in the Specific Category. It is designed for professional pilots and advanced hobby pilots.

• The Certified category is for high risk drone operations like transportation of people or dangerous goods via UAV.  This category is for operations like a real airline and so won't be applicable to most people.

• The regulations are only concerned with the risks involved in the type of drone operations you will be performing. There is no differentiation between private and commercial drone operations in the regulations.

RPAS regulation in Ireland is a dynamic subject and is in a constant state of flux. The procedure for qualifying to operate an RPAS in Irish airspace which is coming online in the near future is as follows:

Two qualifications are required to operate in Irish Airspace, which mirror general aviation. There is primarily a pilot qualification, but to complete commercial work an individual must also work under a qualified operator. An example of an operator in aviation is an airline or a company that provides flight training. The operator ensures safety standards, completion of training and monitoring of operations. The operator may not be a pilot themselves but the individual who will fly the RPAS must have a pilot qualification. The operator holds an aerial work permission issued by the Irish Aviation Authority which allows for commercial work to be completed.

Registered Training Facilities in Ireland