Can you fly a drone in Brussels? 2026 Skeyes guide

Three categories, one logic: risk

The framework comes from Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947. It sorts flights by risk, not by the pilot’s status. Hobbyists and professionals follow the same categories.

The open category covers low-risk flights. The drone stays in direct sight. It stays within 120 metres of the closest point of the surface.

Break one open-category limit and the flight moves to the specific category. You then need an operational authorisation from the BCAA, or a declaration under a standard scenario.

The specific category covers flight beyond visual line of sight, flight over assemblies of people, built-up areas, dropping objects and flight above 120 metres.

• A1: you may fly over isolated people with a drone under 250 g or of class C0, never over an assembly of people.
• A2: class C2 drone, at least 30 metres horizontally from uninvolved people, down to 5 metres in low-speed mode.
• A3: at least 150 metres from residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas, with a drone under 25 kg.

Register as an operator and display your number

Operator registration is required in the open category and in the specific category. It runs through the BCAA Drone Portal, using eID or itsme.

Two exceptions apply. A drone under 250 g with no sensor able to capture personal data. Or a drone under 250 g that complies with the toy directive.

A private individual registers in the state of residence. A company registers where it has its registered office. No operator may hold registrations in two states at once.

You then receive a registration number. It must appear on every drone, visible and legible while the aircraft is on the ground. Permanent marker, label or QR code all work.

If the number does not fit on the airframe, it may go on the battery compartment, provided that compartment stays easy to reach.

Training and exams as they exist in Belgium

The A1/A3 certificate is obtained online through the Drone Portal. Course and exam are free. The exam has 40 questions, two hours, and a 75 per cent pass mark.

You get three attempts at most. Under 250 g the training is not compulsory, but the BCAA recommends it.

The A2 exam requires a valid A1/A3 certificate. You sit it at the BCAA, rue du Progrès 56 in 1210 Brussels, or at a recognised entity. It is free, with roughly 30 questions.

Practical self-training under A3 conditions comes on top. You then upload a signed declaration to the Drone Portal.

A1/A3 and A2 certificates last five years. The expiry of the highest certificate applies to the lower ones. The EU-STS certificate is taken at an entity recognised by the BCAA.

The minimum age for a remote pilot is 16, with a few exceptions set out in the European regulation.

Brussels airspace: geozones and heights

The BCAA publishes UAS geographical zones on the Droneguide platform. Access conditions for each zone sit there too. Check them before every flight.

Around a controlled civil aerodrome, the CTR splits into three geozones: VLL 0, VLL 1 and VLL 2. Their limits and heights differ sharply.

VLL 0 follows the runway axes, extended three kilometres beyond the thresholds, across a two-kilometre width. All open-category operations are banned there.

VLL 1 is a cylinder of 4,500 metres around the reference point, from ground level to 400 feet. In the open category, flight there is capped at 150 feet above ground.

VLL 2 covers the rest of the CTR up to 400 feet. Open-category flights stay below 150 feet, specific-category flights below 400 feet.

Brussels adds zones of its own. The competent air traffic control unit may end a flight at any time, on safety or security grounds.

• Zone EBR-01: certain public institutions in the Brussels Region, including European Union buildings, from ground level to 4,500 feet AMSL.
• Flying over one of those institutions, or within 50 metres of it, requires prior authorisation from that institution.
• Royal domains: a permanently active cylinder from ground level to 4,500 feet AMSL, with prior authorisation from the zone manager.
• Prisons: the site plus a 100-metre buffer, from ground level to 500 feet, subject to prior authorisation.
• Uncontrolled military aerodromes, such as Melsbroek: a two-nautical-mile cylinder up to 4,500 feet AMSL.

Who issues what: skeyes, BCAA, zone manager

Two different authorisations coexist. Access to a geozone comes from skeyes or the zone manager. The operational authorisation comes from the BCAA.

For civil controlled airspace and Defence zones, requests go through the skeyes Drones & Aerial Activities tool. It covers Brussels, Antwerp, Charleroi, Liège, Ostend and Kortrijk.

Lead times depend on the zone. Skeyes asks for submission at least 15 days ahead in VLL 0 and VLL 1. In VLL 2 the lead time drops to three hours.

On the day, the pilot confirms the flight and calls air traffic control about 30 minutes before take-off. The procedure varies by zone.

Prisons, royal domains and protected Brussels institutions answer to their own manager. Their consent does not replace air traffic control clearance.

Insurance, people and privacy

The Royal Decree of 8 November 2020 requires third-party liability insurance from any operator flying in the open category. It covers bodily injury and property damage to third parties.

One exception has applied since 2023. It covers drones used strictly for private purposes with a maximum take-off mass below 900 grams.

From 20 kg upwards, insurance follows Regulation (EC) No 785/2004. Cover levels are set at European level.

Flying over people depends on the sub-category, not on what you film. No assembly of people may be overflown in the open category.

The BCAA has no competence over privacy. For disputed footage, complaints go to the Data Protection Authority, or to the local or federal police.

Private or professional, and what you risk

The category does not depend on whether the flight is paid. A low-risk commercial shoot stays in the open category. A hobby flight beyond visual sight moves to the specific category.

The difference lies elsewhere. Strictly private use under 900 grams escapes the insurance duty. A company registers where its registered office sits, through a CSAM account.

Breaches of the European regulation and of the royal decree are prosecuted under the Act of 27 June 1937 on air navigation.

That act provides criminal penalties. It also provides an administrative fine, served by a BCAA official within one year of the facts.

In short: register, pass the exam, read Droneguide, request access in time, take out insurance. DroneBXL follows the same procedure for its flights in Brussels.