Drones on Svalbard
When flying a drone, you must familiarize yourself with and follow the rules for drone flying. It is prohibited to fly a drone closer than five kilometres to the airport. Drones are prohibited in all protected areas in Svalbard, and it is not allowed to disturb wildlife.
Both the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority and the Governor administer the drone regulations in Svalbard.
- The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority administers the general drone regulations and the provisions on drones around airports, also in Svalbard. The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority has a separate website with information about the rules that drone users must comply with.
- The Governor administers the environmental regulations in Svalbard. This includes a ban on drones in protected areas and consideration for wildlife and people. All traffic in Svalbard must take place in a way that does not damage, litter or otherwise degrade the natural environment or cultural monuments or lead to unnecessary disturbance of people or wildlife, cf. Section 73 of the Svalbard Environmental Act. The prohibition against the use of drones in protected areas is contained in each individual conservation regulation. During the period 1 April to 31 August, it is not permitted to fly drones closer than 500 meters from bird cliffs.
Longyearbyen
In Longyearbyen it is not permitted to fly drones closer than 5 kilometres to the airport, unless permission has been given from the air traffic control tower. The whole of Longyearbyen is therefore within the prohibited zone. For more information about the restricted area, see
Map of Prohibited areas for RPAS, drones and model aircrafts in Longyearbyen
Read more about the regulations for using drones: Drones (CAA Norway)
The National Security Authority (NSM) and the Norwegian Data Protection Authority provide information on which rules apply to filming and photography from the air.
Read more about this:
Airborne Sensor Systems (NSM)
Drones - what is legal? (The Norwegian Data Protection Authority)
Ny-Ålesund
Around Ny-Ålesund Airport, it is prohibited to fly drones in a zone with a radius of 5 kilometres. For more information about the ban in Ny-Ålesund, see: Rules for unmanned aircrafts in Ny-Ålesund (PDF)
Ny-Ålesund has a 20 kilometres zone around the city with radio silence. This means that in practice it is prohibited to fly drones in Ny-Ålesund and in the entire Kongsfjorden. The Norwegian Communications Authority manages the frequency resources in Norway.
For more information about radio silence in and around Ny-Ålesund, contact Kings Bay AS and the Norwegian Communications Authority.
No drone zone around Svalbard airport
