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Unmanned aircraft; application for operating license 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.

Online services

Online services

Responsible for you

Luftfahrt-Bundesamt - Referat B 5

Street address

Hermann-Blenk-Straße 26
38108 Braunschweig

Postal address

Postfach 3054

38020 Braunschweig

Email

uas@lba.de

Website

www.lba.de

Mehr zur Behörde

Procedure details

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 have 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.

  • 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.

  • Required Documents
    • Online-Antrag
    • Betriebshandbuch und referenzierte Dokumente, zum Beispiel Liste des Personals, Liste der Betriebsgebiete oder Liste der Form-blätter
    • Risikobewertung nach
      • einem Predefined Risk Assessment (PDRA) oder
      • einem Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA)
    • Datei mit den Koordinaten des Betriebsgebiets

    bei Änderungen an einer bestehenden UAS-Betriebsgenehmigung:

    • Änderungsantrag
    • geändertes Betriebshandbuch mit eventuell ausgelagerten Dokumenten
    • geändertes Betriebsgebiet
    • geänderte Risikobewertung

    falls Sie einen der Anträge in Vertretung für eine andere, zum Bei-spiel minderjährige Person stellen:

    • Vollmacht

    falls Sie die Betriebsgenehmigung per Post beantragen, benötigen Sie zur Authentifizierung

    • für natürliche Personen:
      • Personalausweis
      • Reisepass oder
      • Aufenthaltstitel, jeweils in Kopie
    • für juristische Personen:
      • Handels- oder Vereinsregisterauszug mit
      • Kopie Personalausweis oder Reisepass und
      • Unterschrift einer vertretungsberechtigten Person

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.

Fee for issuing an operating license
Fee: EUR 200 - EUR 2,000

Fee for issuing an operating license
Fee: 40 EUR - 400 EUR

Fee for issuing an operating license
Fee: 50 EUR - 500 EUR

Apply for the extension of an existing operating license at the earliest 3 months and at the latest 1 month before the operating license expires

The duration depends on the Specific Assurance and Integrity Level (SAIL) at which your UAS operation is to be classified. (2 to 24 weeks)

There are no indications or special features.

Contradiction

Status: 04.07.2024
Editorially responsible for prodecure description: Bundesministerium für Verkehr
Source: Federal Portal
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