Hi all,
I'm planning to fly next month to Venice and looked into information of the law restrictions there for flying drones as I wanted to take aerial shots of the city.
I have spoken to the Italian Aviation Authority (Enac) to a fellow named Riccardo Delise and this is what he told me:
For recreational pilots: He said that for all intents and purposes, hobbyists are forbidden to fly drones inside cities (like Venice
), above people and, surely in no flight zones (airports and such). Thus, as a general rule, in Italy you are only allowed to fly a drone outside cities and populated areas (Nature, parks, etc, unless there are specific restrictions for a certain place).
For flying a drone in nature and outside the restricted areas, you don't need to have a license or a permit. That's legal!
However, if you would like to be allowed to fly inside cities and above populated areas, you would need to have an Italian Aviation Authority drone operator license.
That's right, international drone pilot licenses are not recognized by ENAC. You would have to undergo a course and receive a certification from ENAC.
I guess this rules out also most licensed pilots from foreign countries.
So long story short, no flying in the normally restricted zones + not above crowds + not in the city / populated areas. Other than that, no license or permit is required.
I claim no responsibility for the information given above nor does it constitute as advice of any type. I am only telling you guys what I was told by ENAC. If you fly to Italy, you are more than invited to call ENAC and ask for yourself. The guy in charge of the drone section there was very helpful and speaks English.
His name is Ricardo Delise and his telephone number is: +390644596657.