CANADA has a shortage of Controllers like the US & elsewhere. As a consequence airspace capacity is often reduced around airports like CYUL where I operate. Recently, Nav Canada has been issuing NOTAMs at the weekend restricting VFR and IFR training, aerial photography and site seeing over Montreal. The NOTAM appears in the NAV Drone app under tasks with a small yellow warning triangle after your operation is approved. It also appears as a red shaded circle on the Nav Drone map (long press to get the details). I have always taken this to mean flying drones was also restricted, especially since it appears as a warning when you requested approval. Since it was becoming so frequent and it affects my work, I queried this with NAV Canada. I had an constructive exchange with the Nav Drone support team and got the following response (in summary)
- such NOTAMs are sometimes included unintentionally, they must be respected, but may not apply to drones
- if the NOTAM doesn’t mention “RPAS or drone” then you’re good to operate (having completed the Nav Drone request and received approval) with the following exception, “all aircraft”. All Aircraft does include drones of any weight category including heavier drones with an SFOC.
It should be noted that NOTAMs do also apply to micro drones, I wonder how many micro drone operators check for active NOTAMs.
- such NOTAMs are sometimes included unintentionally, they must be respected, but may not apply to drones
- if the NOTAM doesn’t mention “RPAS or drone” then you’re good to operate (having completed the Nav Drone request and received approval) with the following exception, “all aircraft”. All Aircraft does include drones of any weight category including heavier drones with an SFOC.
It should be noted that NOTAMs do also apply to micro drones, I wonder how many micro drone operators check for active NOTAMs.
