France - Flying a drone on the coast in the South of France

_scottpeters · Aug 30, 2017

Hi there!
I have a holiday coming up in the South of France and wanting to take my drone to take some shots.
I have checked "air map" and it looks like there is hardly anywhere your allowed to fly a drone near the coast. I will be spending time around Montpellier on a cannel boat trip then going to Antibes for awhile.
Has anyone been to these areas and know if I can fly and not get in trouble???
Thanks!

Fredo · Aug 30, 2017

There is many places along the cost where drones are not allowed. But if you respect the DJI NFZ, you should not be disturbed. Just take care of some national monuments that are not specified on the NFZ map but where policeman or guardians are nervous when a drone if flying near them. However, if someone tell you to land. Do it. Say sorry. And go away. That's the best thing to do if you don't want to get trouble.
Enjoy my beautiful country!
Fredo

_scottpeters · Aug 31, 2017

Thanks Fredo! I've decided to take my Mavic thanks to your message but will be careful where I fly!!

martijnvdijk · Aug 31, 2017

Géoportail

This website show all hight restrictions and no fly zone

mortenf · Aug 15, 2018

Thanks martijnvdijk !

We travel to south of France once a year and now I can safely take my Mavic with me and fly lawfully.
Are there any need for registration with the authorities in France before you fly? Do you know?

ryanolivas · Aug 15, 2018

mostly flying near the coast is prohibited but just check and read what martijnvdijk shared to you guys.

martijnvdijk · Aug 15, 2018

the rules in france have changed in this summer, the geoportail is still a good source of information for where one can or can't fly.

When i have read everything correctly a mavic and lighter you in fly without registration anything heavier is a problem.
As normal respect the 10 points for recreational drone purposes. And depending on where you are going be mindful that in france there are some place with a lot of other flying activities (rescue helicopters, paragliding, gliders and so on), a drone always needs to give way to other aircrafts.

But in the places where you can fly one can almost always find very nice landscapes.
If you want to fly on a prived (eq ruins) location talk to the owner or caretaker, it helps and gives nice images.

i hope this helps.

for detailed information see below.
Regulation of Drones: France

mortenf · Aug 15, 2018

Thanks a mill for taking your time to inform us Martijnvdijk [emoji4][emoji106]

Stefand96 · Aug 22, 2018

I am travelling to nice, Cannes and Monaco in september. IM gonna bring my phantom 3 pro. I wonder, as in my country drones are legal and there is no insurance to buy for the drone. How will it be for me to fly over there? Will the police bother me if seeing me flying?

martijnvdijk · Aug 22, 2018

Hello Stefan96,

1. Looking at different website i conclude that a phantom type (and bigger) is effected by the new rules.
https://dronedj.com/2018/04/11/french-drone-regulation/
So flying it in France is restricted and maybe not even allowed any more.

2. look at the geoportal for the flight restrictions that are in effect anyway. The array of Nice, Cannes and Monaco is having a lot of "red" no fly zones (airports, city's etc). so probably not the most logic place to try to fly

3. look at point 2 when the see you fly you will probably have interesting day.

4. if you crash without insurance, with a possible illegal drone (because of the weight) in a no fly zone .... i think you can better not try this.

wco81 · Nov 6, 2019

Martinjnvdijk, do you know whether or how the laws will be affected in 2020 when the EU is trying to impose a EU-wide set of rules for drone flights?

martijnvdijk · Nov 7, 2019

No, I don’t know at the moment. Each European county needs to implement the rules, i know there busy but the details haven’t been released. One thing to know is that in France you allready have to pass a online test and register your drone (above 800 gram). In effect with the test you know the rules and if you fly in a place where you aren’t supposed to be, there is no excuse.

webvan · Nov 7, 2019

It's 800 grams actually ;-)

martijnvdijk · Nov 7, 2019

Your correct, I didn’t need to register my Mavic pro (but did any way).

GuyJ · Jan 11, 2020

Hu guys, this is the link below for the online test ; FOX ALPHATANGO
I did it and this is not so much difficult and I do feel better with this document with me now.
Even with the DJI Mini Mavic drone. Fly safe ;-)

wco81 · Jan 11, 2020

GuyJ said:
Hu guys, this is the link below for the online test ; FOX ALPHATANGO
I did it and this is not so much difficult and I do feel better with this document with me now.
Even with the DJI Mini Mavic drone. Fly safe ;-)

One thing to be aware is that there are new drone regulations which will apply across the EU starting in July.

If you register in one EU country, you won't have to register in others.

For more details, see this thread:

Who's going to fly drones in Europe in 2020?

The EU published EU-wide rules on drone operation in June 2019. https://www.easa.europa.eu/newsroom-and-events/press-releases/eu-wide-rules-drones-published#group-easa-related-content There are various proposed laws governing things like Urban VLOS and Rural BVLOS operation. But as of June...

mavicpilots.com

So some EU countries may be easier to register in than others.