How to Register a Drone in Iceland (New Rules Explained)

[@janiniceland]

📌PEASE NOTE : If you are already registered as a drone operator in another EASA member state, you do not need to register in Iceland.

[@HarryOsirian]

Best free registration (aka, no fee for the exam = Iceland). One other EU country with free exam I found was Luxembourg. The other countries charge a fee to take the exam.

[@allegriach]

Thank you for this update! Iceland is listed since some time as EASA-country with the rules you explained here. It’s way better to go with drones over 250g since wind/weather are always a topic in Iceland.

[@janiniceland]

honestly I had no idea until they released the announcement on December 5th. I agree with the weight, it worth it - ive flown mavic/air2s in all kinds of stormy weather without any issues other than having to calculate for longer time to return. Spoken to my friend who owns Mini, he only really uses it on a good weather day.

[@stevefoster1511]

Thanks Jan. While I don’t have a trip planned back to Iceland any time soon, it’s always good to know about changes. I am licensed in the US and Canada and am registered with the EU and both my drones are as well, so I’ll have to verify that I don’t have to do anything other than add Remote ID information to my controller. Here in the US we also require Remote ID. It’s in the software in my 250g drone so I’ll have to check on that. Spain just changed their rules as well and with this mess in New Jersey here in the US, I predict more regulations coming here too that will make it harder for those of us who follow the rules.

[@janiniceland]

I can imagine it can become a headache if one travels a lot, there're always some changes...still I have to say, everything about the rules is at least more or less clear and easy to research, for example compared to many of asian countries. Let's see where it all goes, sadly there're so many people coming here (and i can imagine its the same elsewhere too) who don-t care about anything and are completely ignorant to others who are visiting local sites- so perhaps its just a matter of time before they will tighten the restriction even more, and like you said, that will just make it harder for those of us who actually do their best to follow the rules...Oh well, all we can do is to educate others and sleep well at night knowing we don-t fall into the wrong category of drone users 😅

[@stevefoster1511]

@ Well said. All the rules and regulations in the world won’t impact the people who think they don’t apply to them. I was at Jokusarlon in 2018 and at the time it wasn’t entirely clear whether you could fly there or not. It was my understanding then that with permission you could do so. I asked around and was told to look for the house where the Ranger lived. If his truck was parked in the driveway you couldn’t fly. If the truck was gone, so was he and you could fly. We looked on the map for the boundaries of the National Park, and flew elsewhere. That same trip was when the DJI Mini had first come out and I watched a guy on the boardwalk at Gulfoss look around, take his brand new Mini out and launch directly in front of the No Drones sign. It happens everywhere and, in fact, more rules are being implemented to curtail drone flights for these and other reasons. I really like the new “compromise” in the Icelandic rules about flying being allowed only in certain times. Fortunately it looks like those times are early and late Golden Hour. YES! A good way to protect the large crowds and still allow for flying at the best times. Can’t wait to return to Iceland. Next trip will include a return to the North and a few days in Siglufjordur. Thanks again Jan.

[@user-gh1zk4fh3h]

Thanks a lot for the information, i am a licensed from Luxembourg with EASA to fly a drone under 259g. Is that license the same as registering on this website you mentioned?

[@janiniceland]

You're welcome! Yes, that same license applies for Iceland. With that said, I recommend to keep an eye on it and maybe reading through some their materials on their website before coming here, to make sure you stay up to date :)

[@HarryOsirian]

Another great video! Jan, you show the registration and exam fee to be 5500 ISK. Then, later on you say the exam is completely free? Isn't the exam part of the fee? I know I'm probably nitpicking here. Just trying to make sense. I get that rules are necessary, otherwise Iceland will become like the Wild West with tourists doing everything they want without caring about others. However, remote ID? What is that even? Some big brother type surveillance where they can track your drone in order to issue fines in case you fly over an area marked as restricted or during those hours you're not supposed to?

[@janiniceland]

Hi Harry! Good questions, what I meant was that there is no extra fees for the exam after you paid the registration. - And the remote ID, the explanation on website of ffa will probably explain it better than me, here's what they say : Remote ID is the ability of a drone in flight to provide identification and location information that can be received by other parties through a broadcast signal. Remote ID lays the foundation of the safety and security groundwork needed for more complex drone operations. Remote ID also helps the FAA, law enforcement, and other federal agencies locate the control station when a drone appears to be flying in an unsafe manner or where it is not allowed to fly. - I'm guessing nobody will be tracking it if you fly for example by some waterfall where it's forbidden, but more like in situations like flying near airport, government facilities and so on......all in all yes, kind of a big brother type surveillance 😅

[@HarryOsirian]

@janiniceland hi Jan, thanks for your answer. I looked into this remote ID a bit more and the drone station is actually the person flying the drone. It will make it possible for anyone to track where the drone pilot is located. This tramples all privacy laws. I agree that a drone can be recognized, but to then give up YOUR personal location? That is ultimately the negative side of this ID thing. By the way, it's a regulation and not (yet) written into law. There is a lot of uproar in the US about the personal location of the drone pilot. To be continued. 😎

[@HarryOsirian]

@@janiniceland Jan, can you please explain how to apply for a drone permit to fly over zones that are restricted? What's the procedure, the cost and how to apply the permit (if gotten) in such areas without being assaulted by possibly angry farmers/police/visitors😋?

[@bogdan.dobrowolski]

After BREXIT the United Kingdom does not qualify for flying without registration and courses but if I am already registered in one of the EU countries then I understand that I do not need to register and do courses???

[@janiniceland]

that's correct. If you are already registered as a drone operator in another EASA member state, you do not need to register in Iceland.

[@massimocarnevali2785]

Hello Jan, it is not very clear to me why should I pay for the registration if I already have a valid A1-A3 license and my drone is already registered in a EU country (Italy in my case), can you explain this step as in the video is not clear and it looks like after you pay for the registration you need to take the exam (if your drone is over 250gr) or obtain a Icelandic ID to fly a sub-250gr drone...

[@janiniceland]

Yeah, honestly that's what i would expect, too. The only thing I found was : ,,In order to fly in the open category, pilots must be registered on the Icelandic Transport Authority's registration website''. I will be doing so more digging in upcoming days and hopefully reach their office directly, so I will post an update when I know more. It's also a fresh update, so I-m guessing there's a chance they will be still doing some tweaking to the system and information provided on their website.

[@massimocarnevali2785]

@@janiniceland In your video at 3.24 I noticed that above the 3 choices there is the yellow note that a says that if you are already registered in a EASA member state you do not need to register in Iceland... so that's the answer... did not notice it before...

[@janiniceland]

@@massimocarnevali2785 omg I have no idea how I missed it 😅 thank you so much for double checking 🙏