Drones and model aircraft may not be operated near gatherings of people or beyond direct eye contact. However, the FOCA may issue a permit for such flights under certain circumstances. Here it is essential to allow sufficient time for preparing an application and submitting it to the FOCA as early as possible.
| The contents of this website refer to legal bases that are in force. |
To qualify for an exemption from the FOCA, a safety test is required. Standard procedures may be applied for certain operations, and these procedures are being constantly supplemented. For operations that cannot qualify for a standard procedure, a complete safety test in accordance with the JARUS Guidelines on Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) is required. The costs vary depending on the processing effort and procedures (300 CHF - 5'000 CHF).
All information on the procedure for obtaining an approval has been moved to the new FOCA website on the EU drone regulation.
- Approval with standard procedure: Note that the approval with standard procedure still refers to Swiss national law.
- SORA approval: Note that the operating licence according to SORA still refers to Swiss national law (JARUS SORA 2.0).
Further information
Contact
Federal Office of Civil Aviation
Mühlestrasse 2
3003 Bern