Heading to Egypt, Jordan and Turkey for a bit of look see.  Anyone knows what are the latest law regarding flying Mavic over there?
Only intent to fly in sparcely populated areas.

cheers

I heard somewhere in this forum that you can't even bring a drone to those countries... it will be confiscated at the customs and you may not see your bird again...

As far as I know, it is not easy to take a drone into these countries, especially in Egypt.

Will be trick though Egyptian customs, should have some $$$ ready..

I go every year to Egypt and last time I take my MP with me without any problem.

Time2Party Posted at 2017-10-28 00:34
I go every year to Egypt and last time I take my MP with me without any problem.

Did you have a permit, or just gate crashed with it ?

Where did you fly it, at some of pyramid sites, or somewhere wilderness?

https://www.dronejobs.org/drone-laws-by-country

Egypt forget it.  Its completely illegal, people have been jailed for doing it.  You're looking at a full blown paranoid military dictatorship with absolute power and draconian rules.  They're quite happy to jail (and occasionally torture) foreigners.  This is the country that has previously prosecuted birds on spying charges and jailed someone indefinitely for bringing in a $40 toy drone for his son on charges of being an israeli spy.

Their official rules, it is illegal to import one - if discovered by customers going in or out it will be confiscated and the penalties involve jail.  Its illegal to fly anywhere at all without a specific permit and again, confiscation and jail.

To bring one in you need an import permit and permission to operate (and a fee to be paid).  These permissions are not granted for hobbyist use.  Once in the country it needs permission to operate for every single flight and can be revoked by anyone official on the spot.

They've jailed people on spying charges on arrival in Cairo if found in the luggage previously, have prosecuted shipping companies at ports for having them in consigments.
Don't forget Egypt is for the large part a war zone, North and central Sinai have a huge IS problem (and the bedouin smuggle arms through there to Gaza etc).  Last week several army people were killed in an ambush in Bahariya the other end of the country and a similar incident in previous months in the south.  You'd be an idiot to provoke them further.

So don't take it to Egypt.  Exhibit some common sense, abide by local laws and dont just gate crash it.  If you do gate crash it and get caught you can expect confiscation and jail.  And dont expect your government to be able to get you out and don't expect humane conditions in the jail - being a foreigner makes no difference.  Have some respect for local laws and follow them no matter how stupid they seem to you.

Regarding Jordan, drone use is allow but in theory prior permission is required.  Its banned in Petra and some other areas - again remember the security situation there and who neighbours them!
Turkey its allowed but have rules about maximum altitudes, speeds and so on.

CA Mavic Pro Posted at 2017-10-28 00:02
Will be trick though Egyptian customs, should have some $$$ ready..

Not for those.  They'll confiscate (airports have rooms full of the things).
The $$$ will be used to maybe keep you out of jail for anything longer than a few nights but thats it.
...and that is just the place of entry. Caught flying it will be even less effective as generally you'll need to bribe every person that saw it...

Fred F Posted at 2017-10-29 02:59
Did you have a permit, or just gate crashed with it ?

Where did you fly it, at some of pyramid sites, or somewhere wilderness?

I take the drone in my backpack with all my electronic stuff like camera, phone and computer.
I have been flying along the see in Marsa Alam and over the hotel.
You cannot fly in Cairo or the pyramids.
I did not have a permit for the drone, at that time I have a permit for taking photos in the museum of Cairo.

Forgot to say that I am a professional photographer.
I travel with a very big backpack for all my camera’s and lenses, the MP was also in there.
When entering Egypt the security check the backpack bat no problem (maybe not seen it), when going out of Egypt no control of the backpack.

Good luck with that, its extremely illegal with big fines.  Don't go moaning about harsh treatment if you end up with a few years in jail with some added beatings.  Not getting caught doesn't mean its fine to do.
Why not actually respect the local laws in the country for once rather than assume you can deliberately ignore them?

I travelled through Turkey switching planes with  with the MP and remote in separate semi rigid cases, the batteries in their individual lips bags as hand luggage. Security checked my bag and pulled the Lipo battery out and asked is this a camera battery?  I nodded and replied yes thinking job done. She then when for the MP case before she could say anything I said the camera is on the front. Raised eyebrows and a shake of the the head was on my way with no further problems.

gnirtS Posted at 2017-10-30 04:28
Good luck with that, its extremely illegal with big fines.  Don't go moaning about harsh treatment if you end up with a few years in jail with some added beatings.  Not getting caught doesn't mean its fine to do.
Why not actually respect the local laws in the country for once rather than assume you can deliberately ignore them?

For what reason are you so rude?

Turkey only for citizens (as of April 2018). Registration required _BOTH_ for pilots and for drones over 500g. Foreigners/tourists can not fly anything (ever Spark or Mavic Air, which are under 500g). Here's a response from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (http://web.shgm.gov.tr/en):  "In order to fly your drone in Turkey, you have to register your drone and yourself in our reg.system. It is not required to register your drone since the MTOW is under 500 gr. But as a pilot you have to reg. Yourself. But fort he time being foreign people can’t register him/herself. Because reg.system connects to Ministry of Internal Affairs system to verify the citizen number. If you have not Turkish citizen number, you can’t do that."

From what I’ve heard if I was you l would leave it at home

Why on gods earth would anybody risk flying a drone in countries that have banned drones and are known for harsh draconian treatment and long term jail terms. Why would you in all seriousness. Not as long as my ass still points downwards should be the correct answer.

Whippings, torture and being somebodies errmmmm hump buddy..... nahhhhhhh I wouldn't even visit said countries when there are alternatives there for sun, fun and flying drones acceptable,

We've made a video on what we did when we were in Oman with a drone, then we were traveling to Egypt and Morocco... all places where drones are banned. Feel free to check it out and we hope it helps others who are traveling to not get in the same pickle that we were in.

Our Youtube video is Titled:

Taking Your Drone Inside "DRONE PROHIBITED" Countries || Oman, Egypt, Morocco, Etc.

Seems more trouble than its worth. Traveling on vacation should to be for fun and enjoyment - and as stress free as possible - or? :-)

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DJI Egypt Posted at 1-24 11:24
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Don't understand any of it, you are wasting your time.

Hello,

I will be travelling to Turkey this weekend, through Cairo with Egypt Air. I have confirmed with Turkish authorities that I do not need to register my Mavic Air, myself (as pilot), or my flights (flight plans) since my drone is under 500g, however I do need to follow the general rules on height, speed, restricted locations, etc.
They also confirmed I do not need to file a technical compliance form as the DJI drone is mass produced and already vetted, this only applies to customs drones.
It appears they have relaxed the rules in Turkey recently, based on earlier posts. The same would not apply to a Mavic Pro/2/phantom, etc due to weights.

My concern is that I have a connection through Cairo. Since I am not importing or bringing my drone through customs into Egypt and only connecting through this airport I would assume this should be no problem? It seems impossible to get a hold of Egyptian customs to get an answer ahead of time.

Has anyone else transited through Cairo with a drone to somewhere else where it is allowed?

FYI on latest drone rules for Turkey:
There is a 3 step flow chart for requirements if you scroll down:
https://iha.shgm.gov.tr/public/index?language=2