The cabinet of the Luxembourg government has agreed with the draft Grand Ducal Regulation laying down the conditions of use of unmanned aircraft (drones) for recreational purposes.
The draft regulation aims to create a national legal framework for the conditions of use of drones for recreational purposes. The project therefore aims to establish basic rules for the use of unmanned aircraft, scaled models or not, motorised or not, unconfined, with a mass at takeoff less or equal to 2 kg, not driving at a higher speed 25 metres per second and used for recreational purposes within the territory of Luxembourg.
Recreational drones are a growing business, which in addition is constantly evolving through the development of new technologies. This is a sector that offers enormous growth potential. The use of these new recreational drones outside a legal framework defining clear and specific rules poses a risk of collision, not only with the aircraft of civil aviation but also with people and objects on the ground.
The draft regulation determines the horizontal and vertical limits within which evolve concerning recreational drones, and defines the areas prohibited for drones in question in order to minimise the risk of collision with aircraft of civil aviation especially during critical phases of flight, including takeoff and landing, and establishes rules of conduct and terms of the use of recreational drones to avoid any risk of damage to other aircraft and for persons and property on the ground. Moreover, the project sets other restrictions and prohibitions which are subject of recreational drones, regardless of the nature of continuing operations and considers the protection of privacy and the protection of private data.
The project also creates an obligation to report to the Directorate of Civil Aviation of incidents between recreational drones and manned aircraft. Furthermore it creates the obligation of registration and marking of each drone used for recreational purposes.
