Madrid, 23 March 2022 (AESA)

People who want to fly a drone of less than 250 grams, as a general rule, must do so as drone operators, having to be registered as such with the State Aviation Safety Agency (ESA), have adequate training and comply with general flight rules and local limitations.

The pilot himself or the person responsible for the operation must have previously registered as a drone operator in a Member State and include the operator number in the drone, provided that the drone has a weight of more than 250 grams or, even if it weighs less, incorporates a sensor capable of capturing personal data (e.g. camera, microphone... etc.), except where it is catalogued by the manufacturer as a toy.

Thus, commonly used drone models, such as DJI Mavic Mini or Mini 2, Hubsan Zino Mini Se or Xiaomi Fimi X8 Mini, will require to operate under an operator registration number.

They would also include drones, which, while not falling within the above characteristics, exceed 80 joules of kinetic energy by the maximum speed achieved, such as race drones or racing drones.

To read in detail these conditions, AESA has published an explanatory note in the following section of our website.

Therefore, although your drone weighs less than 250 grams you will have to comply with the European regulation of UAS