Am I allowed to carry the drone with me on an international flight?

Ceejay · Mar 5, 2017

at 30% charge is only a rough percentage, mine showed 1 light flashing on each battery. Customs can ask for ANY electrical item with a battery to be switched on to prove that it is, what it is. Never know them to ask in all the trips I have done over the last 3 years with drones.
If you have a fully charged battery, and you are stopped, they have the right to confiscate it, as it is deemed a dangerous item, with the likelihood of risk of fire or explosion.
(The captain of any plane has the right to refuse you to fly in his aircraft, if you are discovered)

Nathan Hoover · Mar 5, 2017

I usually fly with mine about half charged.

Smokewagon · Mar 6, 2017

ElGuapo said:
Just came back from a trip abroad to Costa Rica with the Mavic, no issues at all. If anything Custom Agents in CR were curious as to the shape of the drone. My wife's purse was pulled aside for additional screening. As others have posted, the only thing was wrap the batteries individually in lipo safe bags. I even brought the purchase receipt in case it was needed at U.S. Customs coming back to the country but it was not necessary

Have a nice trip and share the video footage in the forum.View attachment 7324

View attachment 7325

I have the same bag, great but check my pictures just an idea for your remote. Plus with the dividers I have a space at the bottom with a piece of sponge just in case the bag is accidentally dropped.
Check how my remote is placed using their divider so joysticks are are not under any pressure from the sides or top.
Just a suggestion.
Bag works like a dream.

ElGuapo said:
Just came back from a trip abroad to Costa Rica with the Mavic, no issues at all. If anything Custom Agents in CR were curious as to the shape of the drone. My wife's purse was pulled aside for additional screening. As others have posted, the only thing was wrap the batteries individually in lipo safe bags. I even brought the purchase receipt in case it was needed at U.S. Customs coming back to the country but it was not necessary

Have a nice trip and share the video footage in the forum.View attachment 7324

View attachment 7325

I have the same bag which is fantastic.
I have a few suggestions
Using their dividers I gave buffer below Mavic with piece of sponge for extra protection if bag is dropped.
Using their dividers I have remote suspended so there is no load on or between joysticks.
Great bag
Just ideas for bag setup.

Oyibo VFX · Mar 6, 2017

Just in my hand luggage to dark Africa. No problem

schroeder1959 · Mar 6, 2017

CaptTPT said:
Are the TSA people looking for an FAA registration number?

I went right through at O'Hare Airport in Chicago. The X-Ray tech says that they see drones all the time. Never asked for any documentation. All was good!

schroeder1959 · Mar 6, 2017

What kind of bag is this? Where did you get it?

darren6270 · Mar 6, 2017

Walked through London Gatwick this morning no trouble at all. In fact I got pulled over by security, thought here we go, then said to the officer 'it's probably my drone' as he was opening my bag, he then replied no, you left your iPad in there!! He pulled it out, glanced it over and then I was off on my way. No problems at all. Appears they are now familiar with them and no problems at all.

MavicChris89 · Mar 6, 2017

Did snyone flew with emirates over dubai to another destination? Becuse emirates wants your drone in the checked in luggage?
Anyone tried it in hand luggage?

Nathan Hoover · Mar 6, 2017

I flew to Dubai on Emirates, stayed a day, and then flew on to Nepal with a phantom in my carry on. No troubles at all but that was nearly 2 years ago.

MavicChris89 · Mar 6, 2017

Nathan Hoover said:
I flew to Dubai on Emirates, stayed a day, and then flew on to Nepal with a phantom in my carry on. No troubles at all but that was nearly 2 years ago.

Oh okay, i don't know when they changed their rules, but i think about carrying the mavic in my bag in cabine. I don't want it in checked in luggage because of loosing.

jimpl · Mar 6, 2017

Just returned from a trip to Australia (from US). United Airlines (cross-country) Qantas from LA to Sydney same for the return flight no problems. I took my DJI mavic as carry on along with the batteries. Australia's flight rules appear to be the same/similar as the US.

jayfish13 · Mar 7, 2017

What about travel to Dominican Republic. Leaving on Friday 3/10/17. Need to know ASAP. Thanks

Ceejay · Mar 7, 2017

this may be of help
Dominican Republic Drone Laws – UAV Systems International

Smokewagon · Mar 11, 2017

schroeder1959 said:
What kind of bag is this? Where did you get it?

Lowepro - Format 150 Camera Backpack

darren6270 · Mar 15, 2017

Flew to Gran Canaria for a quick week in the sun. No problem getting the drone through Gatwick and onto the plane. Pretty strict drone policy on the island so not much flying. Getting back through Gran Canaria airport was a different story. The security scanner operator was a young lady who clearly had no experience with a drone before. She pulled me to one side then asked me to open my bag. I had the Mavic in a smaller hard shell case inside, I opened that and then handed it to her, she turned it around in her hand, sniffed it (!) put it down and then looked at the batteries. All were in Lipo bags with battery terminal covers. She tried to read the label but the puzzled look on her face spoke volumes. In the meantime I was digging out a copy of the airline drone policy which fortunately I had printed out. I handed it to her but she didn't even read it.
After a couple of minutes of looking through leads, mounts, chargers etc etc she called over a colleague who then wandered off and returned a few minutes later with a police officer. Fortunately the officer was a young, good natured gentleman, as he approached I just said "its a drone", he said "how many" I replied "just the one" and he waved his hand and said all fine, he didn't even look at the Mavic.
All fine in the end, a few minutes of worry but just inexperienced personnel at the airport.

raybanner · Mar 15, 2017

MavicChris89 said:
Oh okay, i don't know when they changed their rules, but i think about carrying the mavic in my bag in cabine. I don't want it in checked in luggage because of loosing.

Any news on that? We are travelling to asia from europe with emirates. only a carry-on backpack. I now have to check the backpack in because of the mavic. i dont want to get into trouble and the mavic taken away from me.

Nathan Hoover · Mar 15, 2017

A couple of days ago I arrived in Japan with my Mavic - no issues at all. No one looked at it at all. The rules are quite different about flying through. On the plus side 500', but on the negative, every residential area in the country is off limits. Plus it's been raining pretty much since I arrived. If it clears up today I hope to fly at the coast (Japan Sea side). Every single park in Tokyo is also off limits.

ElGuapo · Mar 15, 2017

Smokewagon said:
Lowepro - Format 150 Camera Backpack

When I got the bag it was on Xmas sale at Walmart. I love this bag.

ElGuapo · Mar 15, 2017

Smokewagon said:
View attachment 7914 View attachment 7915

I have the same bag, great but check my pictures just an idea for your remote. Plus with the dividers I have a space at the bottom with a piece of sponge just in case the bag is accidentally dropped.

On the last trip to Costa Rica, I almost dropped the bag with Mavic coming back into the country at U.S. Customs. I like the approach.

Smokewagon said:
Check how my remote is placed using their divider so joysticks are are not under any pressure from the sides or top.
Just a suggestion.
Bag works like a dream.

I have the same bag which is fantastic.
I have a few suggestions
Using their dividers I gave buffer below Mavic with piece of sponge for extra protection if bag is dropped.
Using their dividers I have remote suspended so there is no load on or between joysticks.
Great bag
Just ideas for bag setup.

I like your setup, I am going to fiddle with mine when I get home from work. I have trip this weekend to Mexico and the Mavic is coming with us.

We are also going to Sri Lanka towards the end of the year.

Tim the Nomad · Mar 15, 2017

Drone Police said:
Global Positioning System and Global Navigation Satellite System is spotty in 3rd world countries. It is a bit better in developing nations but works best in 1st world countries

Seriously???

Both GPS systems were primarily developed for military and commercial use, they use well dispersed geostationary satellites which really don't care about which country you are in. Barring a few really isolated places (Antarctica isn't great) they work great everywhere. I have personal experiences in some very remote places like northern Mongolia

Global Positioning System, the clue is in the name