Do You Need PLA Permission to Fly a Drone Over the Thames?

The short answer

The Port of London Authority (PLA) looks after the tidal Thames: the water, the foreshore, and its own piers, locks and structures. It does not control the air above the river. That is the Civil Aviation Authority's job, with NATS running London's restricted zones.

So whether the PLA has to say yes depends on where the drone takes off and lands.

• •*From a boat, the foreshore or a PLA pier:* you need PLA permission, applied for through its online drone notification system. If the flight is for filming, you need a PLA filming permit as well.
• •*From private land on the bank:* no PLA permission. You need the landowner's permission in writing instead (the council's, on council land), plus NATS permission if the spot is inside a restricted zone.
• •*A multi-drone event:* PLA permission, wherever you launch from.

The foreshore includes the riverbed when the tide uncovers it. Launching from the beach at low water counts as launching from the foreshore.

Two shoots from 2026, two different answers

*From the bank: a tug turning a paddle steamer in the Upper Pool, October.* The job was a paddle steamer being swung round by a tug between Tower Bridge and London Bridge, after dark. The drone took off and landed on a private quay on the north bank, with the landowner's permission in writing. No PLA permit, because nothing left from the water or the foreshore.

That stretch is inside restricted area R158 (City of London), so the flight ran under our NATS permission for that zone. That permission asks us to consult the PLA before flying over the river, so the plan included a short notice to the PLA's drone team with the times, the aircraft, the take-off point and how we would keep clear of the traffic.

The plan followed the PLA's guidance for drones over the river: at least 50 metres from both vessels, nothing flown over or under either bridge, a green flashing light, and a call to London VTS before launch and after landing. The steamer had passengers on deck, so she was treated as a crowd and never overflown, and the tug's work on the line was planned as a longer-lens shot from a distance.

*From a boat: London's landmarks at dawn, July.* A visiting drone operator filmed Tower Bridge, St Paul's, Westminster and the London Eye from a boat we skippered, between 7am and 9am on a Saturday. Because the drone launched from a vessel, this one did need the PLA: a filming permit, which we helped arrange. The route crossed two restricted zones, R158 for the City and R157 for Westminster and the Eye, so the NATS permission covered both. The London Eye's operator was asked as well, and the flights near the wheel were kept to before 9am.

Same river, same kind of aircraft, a different set of permissions, decided almost entirely by the take-off point.

Who signs off what

*The PLA.* Take-off or landing on a vessel, the foreshore, or PLA land and structures such as piers and locks, and any multi-drone event. Add a PLA filming permit if that flight is filming. The PLA can restrict river traffic briefly for a large job, but it cannot close the river, and it won't hold traffic for a second take.

*The landowner.* Any take-off from private riverside land needs the owner's permission in writing. On council land, that means the council.

*NATS.* Three restricted zones reach the river in central London, and each needs Non-Standard Flight permission:

• •R157 Hyde Park reaches the river at Vauxhall, Lambeth and Westminster, and takes in the London Eye and Battersea Power Station.
• •R158 City of London covers the river from Blackfriars to Tower Bridge: St Paul's, London Bridge, HMS Belfast and the Pool.
• •R159 covers the Isle of Dogs. Canary Wharf sits inside R159 and London City Airport's zone as well.

*The airport and the heliport.* London City Airport's flight restriction zone takes in the O2, the Royal Docks, the Thames Barrier and Woolwich. The London Heliport's zone covers the river from Putney to Battersea. Each needs its operator's permission. What a London City permission asks for on the day is set out in drone surveys near London City Airport.

Rotherhithe, St Katharine Docks, Greenwich around the Cutty Sark and the river above Putney sit just outside the zones. The edges are close in places, so give us the exact spot and we will check it against the current NATS drone restriction data.

*The CAA.* The rules for the aircraft's class, operator and flyer IDs, insurance, and keeping the drone in sight. These apply everywhere, on the river or off it.

Flying over the river when the PLA doesn't have to say yes

The PLA's drone guidance binds the flights it gives permission for. For a launch from land it is good practice, and we fly to it anyway:

• •At least 50 metres from vessels, vertically and horizontally. Never fly over, towards or in the way of anything under way.
• •Passenger boats count as crowds.
• •Keep clear of piers.
• •Never fly over or under a bridge.
• •A green flashing light at night.
• •A call to London VTS on VHF channel 14 before launch and after landing. It is compulsory for C2 class drones and above when PLA permission applies, and good manners for everything else.

Every flight is planned by a working Thames skipper. Reading the tide, the traffic and the passage plan is the same skill whether you are on the water or above it.

How much notice

Tell us early. The first job is working out which of these applies, and it is rarely all of them. Long-standing permissions often mean short notice. Where a new application is needed, we file it the day you confirm and tell you the date it went in. A back-up date helps, because wind and rain don't wait for paperwork.

What we need from you

• •The location or the stretch of river, and whether a boat is involved
• •Your date window and a back-up date
• •What has to be in frame: Tower Bridge, the City, Canary Wharf, the Eye
• •Who owns the land you would like us to launch from, if you know

For the airspace away from the river, see drone filming in London's restricted airspace. Who actually runs the Thames explains the PLA's role in full, and planning a Thames shoot around the tide covers timing. When you are ready, get in touch.