Hi all,

I'm going to Turkey this weekend and would love to take my Spark with me.
Based on the information on this site:
https://iha.shgm.gov.tr/public/index?language=2

I think that I'm allowed to take my Spark with me, as it weighs less than 500g, and I do not need to register neither the drone nor me as a pilot.

However, in some other forums, people said that it would still not be allowed.

Has anybody taken their Spark to Turkey recently? Does anybody know if I need to register anything or do anything other than just taking my Spark with me?

Thanks,
xpectnil

Hello, I'm from Turkey and I have just checked the related official web page of civil aviation authority of Turkey:
https://iha.shgm.gov.tr/public/index?language=2

I can confirm that you will not need your drone, weighs less than 500 gr., to be registered, or yourself as a pilot. Usual regulations and obligations are effective: don't fly over crowded areas, over residential areas, military zones etc... You will not be getting in trouble.

Have fun!

Goku Posted at 2018-7-26 04:36
Hello, I'm from Turkey and I have just checked the related official web page of civil aviation authority of Turkey:
https://iha.shgm.gov.tr/public/index?language=2

Hello Goku !

Thanks for all this Information ! Very Helpful indeed.

Turkey is one of my Favourite Countries !

Goku Posted at 2018-7-26 04:36
Hello, I'm from Turkey and I have just checked the related official web page of civil aviation authority of Turkey:
https://iha.shgm.gov.tr/public/index?language=2

Thanks for your fast feedback!

Cool, thanks for your fast response! :-)

Have fun on your trip, Turkey is beautiful.
Watch out for military bases, they're practically everywhere.

Enjoy your trip to Turkey and please don't forgot to share you pics and videos with us.  cheers

Hi. Please contact the airport authorities and the airline personnel as well on how will you properly pack the Drone going overseas. Have a safe and happy trip.

i would like to share my experience of taking my drone to turkey and hopefully it would help some of you out. So i took my DJI Spark from London Heathrow to Istanbul Ataturk Airport and from there to Denizli Cardak. I flew with Turkish Airlines on both flights. Before flying i read through forums and called up Turkish Airlines asking about the drone regulations however they wasnt much help. the best thing to do is read the turkish airlines baggage and luggage item restrictions. i had my drone in my suitcase at first (check in baggage) however i wanted to carry it on me as i didnt want anything to happen to it during flight. before bag check in at london i asked the woman i have a spark which has 2 batteries 16kwh can i carry it as carry on baggage or does it have to stay in my suitcase. she didnt really know as it was a grey area then asked her colleague and she said check with turkish airlines desk and we went and asked him and he said it should be fine however call up someone (i forgot who). she called them up and said its fine they asked for my name and seat number and i was ready to go. i landed in istanbul and went through security no problem at all, no one asked what it is or no one opened my bags. then got on the next flight to Denizli and same there no problem at all. (Quick tip for flying to turkey with a drone, if you want to avoid possible problems try to fly after midnight as the people will be either tired or more careless. I went to Pamukkale (a touristic attraction in Denizli). i was flying my Spark there to get some cool shots and after about 10 mins security came to me and said no drones and even though i am a british citizen my parents are turkish so i decided to speak turkish with him as he may be more sympathetic and understanding. also there wouldnt be a language barrier in between us. so he said to me i am not allowed to fly the drone here and i need to register it and i replied with i do not need to register this drone as it is under 450 grams. i said i have brought this all the way from england and i have checked all the regulations as i am not stupid to bring a expensive drone without any information. he didnt really know the laws however i did bring my drone down as i got enough footage and i didnt want to argue for longer because the only point he had against me which he didnt mention is you cannot fly drones in crowds or in touristic areas. so i thought to myself its pointless arguing and he could use that against me if he knows about it. Even though i have a Turkish Citizen number i didnt feel the need to register my drone as it does not need to be. i went on to fly my drone in different Touristic places such as Aksaray, Goreme, Izmir and had no problem. i flew back to London Heathrow from Konya airport and no problem yet again with Turkish airlines. I had the drone with me in my rucksack and no problems at all.

Nice story, and nice arguing with the security guy, loved it!

Next time at the airport, tell the batteries have an energy of 16 Wh, not kWh. 16kWh would move a full sized electric car

Cheers,
Wolferl

How did it go ? I am planing to take my air to Bodrum airport. Is a bit of grey area....

yk6899 Posted at 2018-8-23 12:22
i would like to share my experience of taking my drone to turkey and hopefully it would help some of you out. So i took my DJI Spark from London Heathrow to Istanbul Ataturk Airport and from there to Denizli Cardak. I flew with Turkish Airlines on both flights. Before flying i read through forums and called up Turkish Airlines asking about the drone regulations however they wasnt much help. the best thing to do is read the turkish airlines baggage and luggage item restrictions. i had my drone in my suitcase at first (check in baggage) however i wanted to carry it on me as i didnt want anything to happen to it during flight. before bag check in at london i asked the woman i have a spark which has 2 batteries 16kwh can i carry it as carry on baggage or does it have to stay in my suitcase. she didnt really know as it was a grey area then asked her colleague and she said check with turkish airlines desk and we went and asked him and he said it should be fine however call up someone (i forgot who). she called them up and said its fine they asked for my name and seat number and i was ready to go. i landed in istanbul and went through security no problem at all, no one asked what it is or no one opened my bags. then got on the next flight to Denizli and same there no problem at all. (Quick tip for flying to turkey with a drone, if you want to avoid possible problems try to fly after midnight as the people will be either tired or more careless. I went to Pamukkale (a touristic attraction in Denizli). i was flying my Spark there to get some cool shots and after about 10 mins security came to me and said no drones and even though i am a british citizen my parents are turkish so i decided to speak turkish with him as he may be more sympathetic and understanding. also there wouldnt be a language barrier in between us. so he said to me i am not allowed to fly the drone here and i need to register it and i replied with i do not need to register this drone as it is under 450 grams. i said i have brought this all the way from england and i have checked all the regulations as i am not stupid to bring a expensive drone without any information. he didnt really know the laws however i did bring my drone down as i got enough footage and i didnt want to argue for longer because the only point he had against me which he didnt mention is you cannot fly drones in crowds or in touristic areas. so i thought to myself its pointless arguing and he could use that against me if he knows about it. Even though i have a Turkish Citizen number i didnt feel the need to register my drone as it does not need to be. i went on to fly my drone in different Touristic places such as Aksaray, Goreme, Izmir and had no problem. i flew back to London Heathrow from Konya airport and no problem yet again with Turkish airlines. I had the drone with me in my rucksack and no problems at all.

Hi, Thanks for sharing of what you had experience in Pamukkale, it was a nice story at all. This would be useful to the others who are planning to fly their drone with this area. Thank you for the support. Have a safe flight always!

Hi,

Goku and yk6899 - thank you for information.

As I wanted to get a confirmation on what was written here from Turkish authorities I've contacted them and the topic for foreign people does not look as sooth as presented. Please find below the information that I received from iha.shgm.gov.tr:

"In Turkey there is no registration requirement for drones below 500 grams but for foreign drone operations,according to “SHT-IHA Instructions”  you must fulfill these instructions below ;
a) Any flight request in Turkish airspace by foreign operators/actuators/pilots should be sent to the General Directorate of Civil Aviation via diplomatic channels 20 weekdays before the first flight day by filling Drone Flight Permit Request Form. (The form is located in the DGCA official website)
- Form Link: web.shgm.gov.tr / tr / formlar / 3910-index  (Hava Seyrüsefer Daire Başkanlığı = > İHA Uçuş İzni Talep Formu)
b) During the application, the original documents (or copy of these documents with originality seals ) that are defined in the Drone Flight Permit Request Form are sent to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.  In addition to these documents, the letter of approval of related Civil Aviation Authority are also be sent to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation  by the operators/actuators/pilots.
c) The insurance requirements which are included in the 10th rule of the SHT-İHA, have to be done for the Drone and its’ systems.
SHT-İHA(Rev2) Link: mevzuat.shgm.gov.tr / index.php / talimat /
ç) After receiving positive views from the civil and military institutions about the applications, these areas are to be announced with NOTAM to all airspace users. In case of receiving negative views from the institutions or from our General Directorate, flight is not permitted.
d) In case of getting the flight permission, it is obligatory to obey the provisions in Turkish AIP and pointed other rules, by business/pilot/party.
e) Licenced / authorized by our General Directorate and at least having IHA2 pilot licence Turkish Republic citizen pilot supervises to all flights.
f) If the areas of flight is a residential area, crowded and very crowded area, no matter what the purpose is, it is obligatory to make a risk analysis.

Best Regards,"


As my departure to Turkey is sooner than 20 weekdays I will not even start the procedure and my drone will stay at home. However if someone manages to complete it please send your feedback how cumbersome the process was.

PS. I was not able to post URL address so just remove spaces from the strings that are URL-like

Hi,
I travelled to Turkey in September and brought my Spark without problems. I found the page saying that no registration is needed for drones under 500 grams, so I printed that info (in Turkish) as well as the specs for the Spark showing the weight. Of course I uncharged the batteries and put them in safety bags. All together with my DSLR in my cabin bag. I went from Sweden to Istanbul to Adana and back. not once did anyone check my bag in Security. I flew the drone in places where I assumed no one would mind, like beach early in the morning, tourist spots etc. No problem at all. I think drones are becoming common in Turkey, too. They sell at the Migros Food chain. My housekeeper told me his sons wants one, he says male students wants to spy on female students. Hmmm....

DJI Tony Posted at 2018-8-27 16:32
Hi, Thanks for sharing of what you had experience in Pamukkale, it was a nice story at all. This would be useful to the others who are planning to fly their drone with this area. Thank you for the support. Have a safe flight always!

You’re welcome and I had to write about my journey as it is stressful as a drone owner to take your drone abroad, it requires a lot of research and it is good to hear from others so I thought my experience would help someone out in a similar situation

Wolferl Posted at 2018-8-24 06:20
Nice story, and nice arguing with the security guy, loved it!

Next time at the airport, tell the batteries have an energy of 16 Wh, not kWh. 16kWh would move a full sized electric car

Yeah the security guy didn’t know what the rules and regulations and the 16kwh was a typo sorry

yk6899 Posted at 2-21 20:18
You’re welcome and I had to write about my journey as it is stressful as a drone owner to take your drone abroad, it requires a lot of research and it is good to hear from others so I thought my experience would help someone out in a similar situation

Hi, thanks for the prompt reply. It would be very useful to our valued customers when in terms of flying the drone with this particular location. May you please always have a safe flight. Thank you for continued support.