If you are intending to fly a drone for recreational or research purposes in Singapore, you might want to check the status of the location you're flying it in first.

While drones are great for breathtaking aerial photos and heartwarming marketing campaigns, they have recently come under greater scrutiny after some drones shut down an entire airport in the UK last month.

Drones floored 1,000 flights, affected > 140,000 passengers

Between Dec. 19 and 21, 2018, London's Gatwick airport was thrown into chaos after multiple intrusions of drones in its vicinity disrupted its operations for a total of 36 hours, according to the BBC.

More than 1,000 flights were grounded, cancelled or diverted by more than a day, affecting more than 140,000 passengers.

In fact, the disruption was so severe that the airport's growth has since been cut by 25 per cent, according to British-based media outlet The Independent.

It was an issue pressing enough to garner two letters to The Straits Times (ST) Forum.

Could such an incident happen here in Singapore?

Not according to Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min, who spoke in Parliament on Jan. 14 in response to questions raised about the possibility of something like that happening here.

This, he explains, is because it is against the law to fly a drone within 5km of an airport or aerodrome unless one applies for a special permit.

Lam added that law enforcement officers also conduct regular surveillance patrols around the airport and respond quickly to the presence of any unauthorised drones.

Counter-measures have also been put in place to deal with safety and security threats posed by illegal drones, in coordination with the Ministries of Defence and Home Affairs.

Lam did not elaborate on what these counter-measures were, though, citing "security considerations".

In all, the past three years have seen up to eight reports of illegal drones flying within 5km of Changi Airport, although Lam noted that none of the drones actually intruded into the airport.

What does the law say?

Here are some key points to note about Singapore's law regarding the space in which drones are permitted to fly, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS):

• They must be flown outside of restricted, dangerous, protected and prohibited areas
• They cannot be flown within 5km of an aerodrome or airbase (e.g within 5km of any military or civilian airport)
• They cannot be flown more than 200 feet (61 metres) above sea level
• In the event that the operation of a drone (e.g. aerial photo for personal collection) exceeds any of the above conditions, it is necessary to apply for a Class 2 Activity Permit

And here are the zones, shaded in blue lines, and circled with brown lines, according to CAAS, where drone flying will require a Class 2 Activity permit per event. Prohibited areas circled in red are completely off-limits to drones.

Note that this basically means almost all of the eastern Singapore, most of northern Singapore and a significant portion of western Singapore will require the Class 2 Activity Permit.

Here is a breakdown of all the permit and operator fees that will apply according to CAAS:

Now you know.

Top image screenshot from Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore

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