Following last week's disruptive drone incident at Gatwick airport, Luxembourg's government stressed that it remains illegal to fly a drone over some areas.

Only last week, air traffic at Gatwick airport was temporarily shut down due to drone sightings. Luxembourg's civil aviation's directorate reminded the general public that the use of drones is illegal in some parts of the country.

These no-fly-zones are mainly situated near Findel airport and in proximity to aerodromes and heliports. These are the eight places where flying your drone can get you into trouble:

  • a large zone around Luxembourg airport, including several municipalities such as Sandweiler and Niederanven.
  • several smaller zones, including parts of Luxembourg City, Esch, Useldange, Ettelbruck and Wiltz. 

RTL

© OpenStreetMap / Civil Aviation

More generally speaking, the use of any "unmanned aircraft" is exclusively allowed during the day and also requires special authorisation. The user is prohibited from flying the drone over roads, highways, railroads, vehicles, people and animals.

Maximum altitude is 50m (or 20m above a nearby obstacle) and their use is not permitted in bad weather conditions. The restriction goes hand in hand with the obligation always to "maintain direct visual contact" with the drone.