Trip planner
Pick where you're going and how heavy your drone is. The steps depend on your home country, which you set in the top right.
Choose your home country (top right) to see steps tailored to you.
1 thing to sort out before you fly
- Register your drone in United Arab Emirates
Register with a passport via the My Drone Hub app or GCAA's UAS registration portal. Secondary sources report wildly different fees (roughly AED 100–500), which could not be reconciled against an official GCAA fee table, so treat any fee figure as unverified and confirm it in-app. Allow about 1 day before your trip.
Open official page - Bringing your drone in
No drone-specific duty-free allowance is published. A single drone carried as personal luggage is generally treated as personal electronics, but customs and telecoms officials can scrutinise professional camera/photography equipment, especially arriving into Dubai during the current recreational-flying suspension. Batteries: Carry-on only for spare lithium batteries, standard airline limits apply (typically up to 100 Wh freely, 100–160 Wh with airline approval, max 2 spares).
- Before each flight
Register every drone with GCAA (My Drone Hub app or portal) before your first flight; unregistered flying is illegal nationwide · Fly only inside approved 'green zone' areas shown in the My Drone Hub app; 'red zones' need a separate GCAA/security approval · Recreational/individual drone flying is suspended indefinitely in Dubai (DCAA jurisdiction) — check DCAA channels before flying there