Apply for an operating license for unmanned aircraft (UAS) in the "special" operating category

In order to operate an unmanned aircraft (UAS) in the "special" operating category in Germany, you need an operating license. Depending on your place of residence or principal place of business, you can apply for this from the Federal Aviation Office or your state aviation authority.

If you are registered as an operator of unmanned aircraft (UAS) with the German Federal Aviation Office (LBA) and wish to operate a UAS in the "special" operating category in Germany, you require a UAS operating permit. The authority to which you can apply for a UAS operating permit depends on the federal state in which you live. In the case of legal entities, i.e. companies, associations or organizations, the registered office is decisive. The LBA is responsible if your place of residence or main place of business is in one of the following federal states:

• Bavaria
• Berlin
• Brandenburg
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
• North Rhine-Westphalia
• Saarland
• Saxony
• Saxony-Anhalt
• Thuringia

If your place of residence or principal place of business is in another federal state, please contact the local state aviation authority. Legal entities that hold a Light Unmanned Aircraft Operator Certificate (LUC) always apply to the LBA for their UAS operating permit, regardless of their principal place of business. In your application, you provide information including

• the operating area
• the risk assessment
• the operations manual

If you are applying for a UAS operating license for the first time, it is advisable to contact the competent authority in advance for a preliminary discussion. During this meeting, you can clarify questions about your UAS operation and the necessary application documents, among other things.

An operating license issued by the LBA is valid for 2 years.

As a UAS operator, in addition to the initial application, you can also

• extend an existing operating license,
• return it or
• make changes to the operating license.

• Online application
• Operations manual and referenced documents, e.g. list of personnel, list of operating areas or list of forms
• Risk assessment according to
  • a Predefined Risk Assessment (PDRA) or
  • a Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA)
• File with the coordinates of the operating area

for changes to an existing UAS operating license:

• Change request
• Amended operations manual with any outsourced documents
• amended operating area
• amended risk assessment

if you are submitting one of the applications on behalf of another person, for example a minor:

• Power of attorney

If you are applying for the operating license by post, you will need the following for authentication purposes

• for natural persons :
  • identity card
  • Passport or
  • Residence permit, a copy of each
• for legal entities :
  • Extract from the commercial or association register with
  • copy of identity card or passport and
  • Signature of an authorized representative

• You are registered with the LBA as a UAS operator.
• Your UAS operation is assigned to the "special" operating category. This is the case
  • as soon as a condition of the "open" operating category is not met and
  • none of the criteria of the "subject to approval" operating category apply.

Note: The conditions that apply to the "open" and "subject to certification" operating categories can be found in Article 4 and Article 6 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947.

• The planned flight of your UAS does not correspond to any of the standard scenarios.

Contradiction

You can apply for a UAS operating license online or by post.

• Call up the online application on the federal portal verwaltung.bund.de. This will guide you step by step through the necessary information.
• Upload the required documents and submit the application. Alternatively, you can print out the completed online application and send it to the LBA by post together with the documents.
• The LBA will check your application.
• You will receive
  • a fee notice and
  • an operating license or
  • a rejection notice.
• You pay the fees.

There is no deadline for applying for an operating license.

Gebühr für Erteilung einer Betriebsgenehmigung: Fee from 200,00 EUR to 2.000,00 EUR (Information on cost composition can be found here)

Gebühr für Erteilung einer Betriebsgenehmigung: Fee from 40,00 EUR to 400,00 EUR (Information on cost composition can be found here)

Gebühr für Erteilung einer Betriebsgenehmigung: Fee from 50,00 EUR to 500,00 EUR (Information on cost composition can be found here)

There are no indications or special features.