How to fly drones in ENAIRE geographical areas?
Royal Decree 517/2024 lays out the following notable requirements in terms of coordinating flight operations with airport managers and air navigation service providers:
UAS geographical areas in controlled airspace and flight information zones (FIZ) (Article 42).
Access by recreational pilots to geographical areas under the same conditions as professionals.
Flights in the geographical areas of aerodromes and heliports
Flights inside these geographical areas will be coordinated with the relevant manager. In the case of areas associated with a facility of the AENA network, the request will ONLY be made through the contact indicated in PLANEA or ENAIRE DRONES at least 20 calendar days before the date of the activity. AENA will coordinate the operation with the relevant ATS provider.
AENA and ENAIRE have internal coordination mechanisms and will issue a single response.
General UAS geographical areas for operational safety reasons in the vicinity of public-use, civil or military airports (Art. 41, sec. a), RD517/2024). All distances measured from the aerodrome reference point (ARP).
General UAS geographical areas for operational safety reasons in the vicinity of public-use, civil or military heliports (Art. 41, sec. b), RD517/2024). All distances measured from the aerodrome reference point (ARP).
Flights in geographical areas of airspace controlled by ENAIRE and FIZ
UAS operations in controlled airspace are permitted without coordination provided if the following conditions are simultaneously met:
- VLOS (Visual Line of Sight).
- Outside of general UAS geographical zones established for safety around aerodromes and heliports.
- A maximum operational height of 60 m AGL.
Therefore, within ENAIRE-controlled airspace, operations that do not meet any of the aforementioned conditions, must be coordinated.
If coordination with ENAIRE is required, the strategic and pre-tactical phases will be carried out through ENAIRE Planea, with the pre-tactical phase requiring a minimum notice of 10 calendar days, except for police and emergency services, and a maximum of one calendar month.
You can see various examples at the following link.
Requirements to operate in ENAIRE's geographical areas
NOTE: Aeronautical lights refer to anti-collision and navigation lights.
If you are a UAS operator and you want to fly your aircraft in airspace where ENAIRE provides air traffic control services, you must first make sure you comply with the operator registration requirements applicable to your case, and then take the following steps:
1.Conduct a new Operational Risk Assessment and Mitigation (ORAM in English, EARO in Spanish) to analyse the risks for the type of operation (ConOps) you wish to conduct in controlled airspace. To do this, we offer the following templates, which have been developed jointly with AESA and the other ATSPs, so that you can customise it based on your ConOps and send it, together with your UAS operator certificate:
- Open category (ORAM_OPEN)
- Specific category under national standard scenario STS-ES-01 (ORAM_STS-ES-01)
- Specific category under national standard scenario STS-ES-02 (ORAM_STS-ES-02)
- Specific category under european standard scenario STS-01 (ORAM STS-01)
- Specific category under european standard scenario STS-02 (ORAM STS-02)
- Specific category under operational authorisation (ORAM_AUTHORISATION)
NOTICE: For ORAMs approved and based on the regulation repealed by RD 517/2024 (1036/2017 and Chapter XI 1180/2018), the application of the mitigation measures contained therein will be accommodated, giving priority to the text of the pre-tactical coordination to adapt to the new conditions of use of airspace defined in the Chapter V of RD 517/2024.
The transition period to adapt to the new UAS RD will end on 25 June 2025. From then on, we remind you that the ORAMs/EAS that have been coordinated as per the regulation repealed by RD 517/2024 (RD 1036/2017 and Chapter XI 1180/2018) will no longer be valid.
To make it easier for FFCCs to adapt to Royal Decree 517/2024, a study template has been developed based on the SORA methodology of RD 1036/2017 that can be used to coordinate the Aeronautical Safety Study until they can fully benefit from the new Royal Decree.
- Aeronautical Safety Study for NON-EASA operations RD 1036/2017 (EAS_FFCCs, only in Spanish version)
You must complete your EARO by using this catalogue of mitigating measures, including those that correspond to your ConOps.
The following infographic provides answers to the most common questions involving the EAS/ORAM coordination process.
2. Go to ENAIRE Planea and send your ORAMs via the safety form. ENAIRE's Safety Division will contact you through the application to initiate the coordination. Once this process is complete, we will issue the evidence of coordination with ENAIRE so that you can operate in controlled airspace under the conditions specified in your ORAMs.
IMPORTANT: Your ConOps and the UAS form may require operational authorisation from AESA.
3. Once you have everything you need for your operation, go to ENAIRE Planea or ENAIRE Drones and check the map to see who has to receive your operation request.
If it is ENAIRE, fill in the 'Request form' you will find in the application and the Department for Coordinating Airspace Operations (COOP) will inform you of the conditions and requirements that you must comply with once the operation is coordinated. Remember that you may also be required to coordinate with other managers of natural spaces, military areas, air bases, private ATS providers, the Ministry of the Interior, etc.
A Guide with useful tips has been developed to help you plan your UAS operations in the simplest and most efficient way possible.
4. On the day that you fly your drone:
- Check the NOTAMs in force and get your Pre-flight Information Bulletin (PIB).
- If you have to prepare a flight plan, follow this specific guide for UAS operators.
- Follow any instructions given by the air traffic controller and their instructions, as if you were just another airspace user.
- And finally, if you had to prepare a flight plan, close it through the ARO office. If the operation finishes after the ARO office closes, close the flight plan as soon as possible on the next day.
REMEMBER:
- Be registered in Ícaro XXI and have your flight plan user activated. Please note that it may require up to 7 days.
- Act in accordance with the instructions received from the COOP.
- Drones are not toys, they are aircraft; fly safely!
- A non-response from the administration must be interpreted as a denial.
- We make available to users a Customer Portal, a direct communication channel through which to receive news and updates on the sector, where you can register as a UAS operator.
IMPORTANT: When flying in airspace controlled by another air traffic provider, you must follow its procedures.
Visit the AESA Drones website for more information.
Follow us on social media and distrust unofficial sources of information.
For more information, you can write to us at informacion@enaire.es or coop.consultas@enaire.es.
IMPORTANT: It is the responsibility of third parties whose information is contained in this tool to correct and update said information, so if you find information that is incorrect or out-of-date, you can report it to ais@enaire.es.