Drones are Not Allowed to Fly in Prague Until October 25

Due to the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, drone flights are temporarily prohibited in the center of Prague and the wider center.

Drones cannot be handled in an area with a diameter of 7.4 km from Žižkov to Braník and from Radlice to Vršovice. Only police drone flights are exempt. The ban is valid until October 25. This follows from data from the Civil Aviation Authority.

The no-fly zone designated as LKP Centrum applies only to unmanned aircraft, the operation of transport aircraft over the center of Prague is not restricted. The new zone complements the permanent no-fly zone above Prague Castle.

“During the previous presidency in 2009, such an area was not announced, because then the numbers, popularity, and technical parameters of unmanned systems were nowhere near today’s level,” said Radek Hodač from Air Traffic Control.

According to Jaroslav Řešátka from the importing company DJI Telink, most drones have recorded coordinates of no-fly zones, such as international airports, power plants and other objects important from a security point of view. Thanks to the saved GPS coordinates, the drone will not take off in such an area, or it will alert you to the zone.

“This is the activity of the manufacturer, which tries to prevent the most serious problems. Unfortunately, this does not mean that no-fly zones must be 100 percent in line with the domestic rules for unmanned flying. In the case of temporary no-fly zones, on the contrary, it is clear that this zone is not in the drone’s database. It means that each user has to find out for himself in advance,” added Řešátko.

The operation of drones is expressly prohibited in the vicinity of airports, military bases, power plants or over assemblies. Interested parties can find detailed information, including clearly listed prohibited areas, on the Air Traffic Control website www.letejtezodpovedne.cz.

Since the end of last year, new rules for the operation of drones have been in force in the Czech Republic and the entire European Union. Three categories of drones are new, and the amendment also applies to previously sold or purchased models.

Pilots must now pass an online test and mandatory registration on the website of the Civil Aviation Authority, where the operator will receive a registration number with which to mark all its machines.

According to the office, there could be up to 50,000 operators and pilots in the register in the future.