Much of east London sits inside London City Airport's drone zone. What a real permission there asked of us, the sites that can't be flown at all, and the questions surveyors ask before they book.
Where the zone is
London City Airport has a flight restriction zone around it, and a drone needs permission to fly inside it. The zone is a circle round the airport, plus protection zones that run out from each end of the runway.
On the current NATS drone restriction data, it takes in:
- •The Royal Docks, Canning Town and Beckton
- •The O2
- •Charlton, the Thames Barrier and Woolwich
- •Canary Wharf, through the protection zone off the western end of the runway. Canary Wharf is inside restricted area R159 as well, so two sets of rules apply at once.
Greenwich around the Cutty Sark, and Stratford, sit outside it.
The edges run through streets, not along postcode lines, so two sites a few hundred metres apart can need completely different permissions. On one recent survey enquiry in west London, the likeliest address sat 43 metres inside a second zone, which meant a second permission. Send us the exact address and we will check it against the data before we quote.
What a real permission asked for
This autumn we were granted permission for a construction site on the Isle of Dogs, where the permitted area sits in both R159 and London City Airport's zone. These were its terms, and they are a fair picture of what to expect:
- •*A fixed area.* A 200 metre circle round the site, up to 400 feet. Nothing outside it.
- •*A named aircraft and pilot.* The permission was issued for one drone and one pilot. Changing either means checking with NATS first.
- •*A visual observer on every flying day.* A second trained person whose only job is to watch the sky. So every day on that site is a two-person crew, and the quote has to allow for it.
- •*Notice to the airport the day before,* with start and finish times.
- •*A call to air traffic control before take-off.* If air traffic control doesn't acknowledge, the drone doesn't fly. Outside the tower's hours, the airport's operations team gets a call before the flight and again after it.
- •*The river.* If any of the flight goes out over the Thames, the Port of London Authority hears about it first.
- •*A long validity window.* It ran for more than three months, so when the client's programme slipped, nothing had to be applied for again.
None of this is unusual. All of it has to be in the plan, the risk assessment and the price before the first visit, not discovered on the morning.
Sites that can't be flown
Very close to the ends of the runway, the answer can be no. We have had to tell a client that their yard in E16, less than a kilometre from the runway threshold, could not be flown, and offered ground-based filming instead. Better to find that out when you ask for a quote than when the crew arrives.
What surveyors ask us
A surveying practice sent us these questions before booking. They are the right ones to ask any operator.
*Who applies for the permission?* We do. It is issued to us as the operator, so it covers our pilot flying for your surveyors.
*Is there a separate fee for it?* No. The application and our risk assessment are built into the quote, not added on top.
*What insurance do you carry?* £10m public liability, plus aviation liability for the aircraft. We send the current certificate to you or the landowner whenever it is asked for.
*How much notice do you need?* As much as you can give. We file the day you confirm the address and dates, and apply for your back-up dates at the same time. Long-standing permissions often mean short notice.
*Can the time window be flexible?* Yes. We apply for a longer window than the survey needs, so the time your surveyors arrive doesn't matter on the day.
*What do we get, and when?* The raw stills and video within 48 hours of the flight.
What to send us
- •The full address and postcode
- •Your preferred date, and a back-up or two
- •What the surveyors need to see: roofs, chimneys, gutters, elevations
- •Where we can take off, and the owner's OK for it
We cover drone surveys and drone inspections across Newham, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich. For the rest of London's restricted airspace, see drone filming in London's restricted airspace, and for anything over the river, who has to say yes before a drone flies over the Thames. When you have an address, send it over.