Hi there

A Mavic Mini owner here. I am aware that there are new changes coming up from 2021 in terms of drone regulation and registrations. I currently live in the UK and I have already registered myself and my drone on the CAA website (got the flyer and operator IDs). What I am confused about tho, are the rules for flying in the EU.
I travel (well... used to before corona ) around EU quite frequently and I always take my drone with me. Am I required to register or fill some form to be able to legally fly in EU countries or is my UK flyer / operator ID sufficient?

Also, for those of you travelling outside of Europe and using drone for non-commercial purposes. Do you register / fill in paper work in every country that you are travelling to or are you flying without any paperwork?

Thanks ^^

Good question. There has been some debate about this already in another Dutch (mini) forum that I am a member of.
Right now there is no link between the countries databases and it looks like you need to register your drone at every country.
Because they can't check other countries entries.
But that 'should' change over time.

No need to register in each (EU) country since 31.12.2020 if You are already registered in your country. I guess UK is with other EU countries at the moment (under EASA rules).

virtual Posted at 12-30 01:09
No need to register in each (EU) country since 31.12.2020 if You are already registered in your country. I guess UK is with other EU countries at the moment (under EASA rules).

Do you have anything to back that up, as for example on the French drone site there is not mention of that before taking their online test to fly.

I don't know if it can help you but regulation in France.
https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F34630

DAFlys Posted at 12-30 01:36
Do you have anything to back that up, as for example on the French drone site there is not mention of that before taking their online test to fly.

I'm French, regarding drones if you don't fly over people or military terrain and airports the police are pretty cool with drone pilots ;)
I've been stopped by police officers before and they were more curious to see my drone and ask me questions about the sensations than to reprimand me lol

VanzPix Posted at 12-30 05:08
I'm French, regarding drones if you don't fly over people or military terrain and airports the police are pretty cool with drone pilots ;)
I've been stopped by police officers before and they were more curious to see my drone and ask me questions about the sensations than to reprimand me lol

Thats pretty cool,  I wonder how they would take it if the person was foreign.

DAFlys Posted at 12-30 01:36
Do you have anything to back that up, as for example on the French drone site there is not mention of that before taking their online test to fly.

It's the main point of this new regulation and it is in force from 31.12.2020 in all EASA member countries. I have no experience from other countries at the moment but I passed on-line test and registration on our civil airspace authority website 2 weeks ago.

virtual Posted at 12-30 09:45
It's the main point of this new regulation and it is in force from 31.12.2020 in all EASA member countries. I have no experience from other countries at the moment but I passed on-line test and registration on our civil airspace authority website 2 weeks ago.

As you say, that's the main goal. Do you have any information about flying in Slovakia? We do not have this system yet, as far as I know we follow the old rules until government manage to create a registration platform.  I tried to open Czech site this month, but it let you in only if you have a Czech adress. So, as I see it now, I can fly only in Slovakia (which is not a big deal now, due to virus), until I pass the test and registration. Does anyone know for sure, if thats the case, or do I need this registration as well right from 1.1.2021?

Far as i understood,  when you in EU you have to register just once in your living country each eu country as access to database....( for registration you need a address) so you dont have to register in each eu country you travel, but you have to know the local rules, they can be different.......with uk im not sure because of leaving on 31.12......but still al confusing

I've been reading around the topic and the best I could find was this:
https://drone-traveller.com/eu-drone-registration/

From what I understand, we only have to register once in the country of residence. It doesn't unfortunately explain what is going to happen to the UK, whether it will be treated as non-EU country or if it would be in some sort of agreement like Norway or Iceland. I just wish all those rules and regulations would be more straightforward. More and more people are getting into drones because they want to document their travels (like myself). It is really difficult to make things legal if each country has its own rules and on top of it they're not clear !

PeterKiss Posted at 12-30 10:17
As you say, that's the main goal. Do you have any information about flying in Slovakia? We do not have this system yet, as far as I know we follow the old rules until government manage to create a registration platform.  I tried to open Czech site this month, but it let you in only if you have a Czech adress. So, as I see it now, I can fly only in Slovakia (which is not a big deal now, due to virus), until I pass the test and registration. Does anyone know for sure, if thats the case, or do I need this registration as well right from 1.1.2021?

True, local address needed to register. You're registered as owner, You'll get number, that You should put on all Your RC aircrafts and drones. That's all for sub 250g drones (mini, mini2), for heavier aircraft You need to pass on-line test for A1, A3.

djiuser_jlXvtbqzCyHi Posted at 12-30 11:48
Far as i understood,  when you in EU you have to register just once in your living country each eu country as access to database....( for registration you need a address) so you dont have to register in each eu country you travel, but you have to know the local rules, they can be different.......with uk im not sure because of leaving on 31.12......but still al confusing

You understand these rules well. UK is member of EASA at the moment so brexit makes no difference for now (can be changed in future but it is easier to keep the same rules IMHO).

virtual Posted at 12-30 09:45
It's the main point of this new regulation and it is in force from 31.12.2020 in all EASA member countries. I have no experience from other countries at the moment but I passed on-line test and registration on our civil airspace authority website 2 weeks ago.

My understanding is even after the new rules come in you still have to register in the country you are visiting,  thats certainly true for visitors to the UK.

DAFlys Posted at 12-31 02:00
My understanding is even after the new rules come in you still have to register in the country you are visiting,  thats certainly true for visitors to the UK.

If so, the new EASA rules are not aplied in UK. But starting today all EASA countries should use new rules. And the basics like no flying over crowds, flying over uninvolved people should be minimised, all operators (drone owners) have to be registered ect. should be the same for all countries. There's no update or postponement AFAIK.

virtual Posted at 12-31 03:43
If so, the new EASA rules are not aplied in UK. But starting today all EASA countries should use new rules. And the basics like no flying over crowds, flying over uninvolved people should be minimised, all operators (drone owners) have to be registered ect. should be the same for all countries. There's no update or postponement AFAIK.

If you watch the Ian in London video on the EASA rules he reminds viewers of the need to register.

DAFlys Posted at 2020-12-31 04:33
If you watch the Ian in London video on the EASA rules he reminds viewers of the need to register.

after the new rules come in you still have to register in the country you are visiting,  thats certainly true for visitors to the UK

I don't know UK rules (if they are different from EASA rules) but It's been said that one operator registration is required for all EASA countries (now You actually can not fly Mini legally without registration in Europe). You basically need to know local NFzones as a registered operator in open category visiting other european country...

Yeah a lot of uncertainty.
I'm Spanish, my wife British, the last year we have had a lot to renew resident papers, driving licenses, medical insurance... Then my mother in law came to live here and she had to do a lot more.
So while covid still the biggest issue specially now with the new UK strain, travel to Europe has indeed changed, and it will even more in the future.

You may need to do extra things before you travel to the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, such as:

check your passport
get travel insurance that covers your healthcare
check you have the right driving documents
organise pet travel - contact your vet at least 1 month before you go

virtual Posted at 1-2 04:44
after the new rules come in you still have to register in the country you are visiting,  thats certainly true for visitors to the UK

I don't know UK rules (if they are different from EASA rules) but It's been said that one operator registration is required for all EASA countries (now You actually can not fly Mini legally without registration in Europe). You basically need to know local NFzones as a registered operator in open category visiting other european country...

Well a few weeks ago I registered to fly in France and their EASA rules are very different to the UK EASA rules, so I think I will keep doing local registrations just in case.

virtual Posted at 1-2 04:44
after the new rules come in you still have to register in the country you are visiting,  thats certainly true for visitors to the UK

I don't know UK rules (if they are different from EASA rules) but It's been said that one operator registration is required for all EASA countries (now You actually can not fly Mini legally without registration in Europe). You basically need to know local NFzones as a registered operator in open category visiting other european country...

There is nothing on any of the CAA information allowing for registration from other EASA countries at present.  The primary rule is that you need two IDs; the Operator ID as the legal owner, fixed on the drone, and also the Flyer ID as the person holding the remote.  If other EASA countries do not offer both IDs, then you won't have the required IDs to fly in the UK.

When I renewed my Op Id, the email did mention new rules were coming in 2021 and my next renewal would likely be a new number, presumably to align with EU-wide EASA IDs, but as yet, there is nowhere it mentions that overseas registrations are valid in the UK, so on that basis, you cannot fly unless you register in the UK as well at the moment....
Ian

Ian in London Posted at 1-2 05:24
There is nothing on any of the CAA information allowing for registration from other EASA countries at present.  The primary rule is that you need two IDs; the Operator ID as the legal owner, fixed on the drone, and also the Flyer ID as the person holding the remote.  If other EASA countries do not offer both IDs, then you won't have the required IDs to fly in the UK.

When I renewed my Op Id, the email did mention new rules were coming in 2021 and my next renewal would likely be a new number, presumably to align with EU-wide EASA IDs, but as yet, there is nowhere it mentions that overseas registrations are valid in the UK, so on that basis, you cannot fly unless you register in the UK as well at the moment....

As I said before I'm not expert - now I see UK is not EASA Member State (listed on web) so the EASA registration is very likely not valid in UK (only in 31 member states, Ireland is listed as member BTW).
I have both IDs (operator and A1+A3 open sub category) BTW that should be valid in those 31 states.