Can You Fly a Drone in Mykonos?

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Mykonos is a beautiful Greek island on the Aegean Sea. Attracting massive crowds, especially on Super Paradise beach, the dance clubs, loud music, and DJs create a festive atmosphere.

It’s something you’ve longed to experience with your drone.

Can you fly a drone in Mykonos?

You can fly a drone in Mykonos but must follow the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority’s rules for doing so. You must also abide by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s guidelines since Greece is a part of the European Union.

If you still have questions about flying a drone in Mykonos, that’s okay.

Ahead, we’ll explain how to get your drone into Greece and where you can and can’t fly it once you get there.

Make sure you keep reading, as there’s lots of great info to come!

Getting your drone into Mykonos #

Taking your drone on a cross-country flight is exciting but can end in heartbreak if you don’t prepare accordingly.

You must buy a bag intended for drone transport rather than wrap your drone in a few loose t-shirts, throw it in a piece of luggage, and hope for the best.

The bag should have a fitted compartment for your UAV to safely nestle. The less it moves around when in transit, the better!

We also strongly recommend putting the drone in a bag that your airline approves as a carry-on or checked luggage. If you don’t, your drone is at a higher risk of incurring damage and possibly getting stolen.

Some Greek airlines consider batteries dangerous goods if they’re over 1,000 watt-hours or 12 volts. If your drone batteries meet the allowable requirements, you’re only permitted to bring two spare batteries.

You might want to pack a drone with a long battery life, as two batteries won’t get you very far!

Make sure you remove all batteries from your drone before boarding the plane.

Can you fly a drone in Mykonos? #

As mentioned in the intro, the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority establishes the rules for what’s permitted in the skies in Greece. That goes for Mykonos too.

According to HCAA, drones are legally permitted to operate in Mykonos and larger Greece.

Keep in mind that Greece is a member of the European Union, which means the country also operates under the drone laws of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

We’ll talk more about what EASA’s drone regulations are, so make sure you don’t miss that.

So where in Mykonos can you fly your drone? The HCAA prohibits drone use around sensitive areas such as military facilities, government buildings, hospitals, and prisons.

You must also avoid restricted airspace, including areas with temporary flight restrictions.

We truly can’t recommend enough downloading a drone app with a real-time map and following along with what’s going on in Mykonos for each day of your trip.

Greece drone laws for your trip to Mykonos #

As promised, let’s dive deep into the HCAA and EASA’s drone requirements for flying in Mykonos.

You must follow EASA guidelines #

EASA categorizes drones into Open, Certified, or Specific categories according to how you’ll use your drone and what it weighs.

Most drones that commercial and recreational pilots use fall under the Open umbrella, which constitutes low-risk drone flight with a UAV weighing under 25 kilograms.

Under the Open category, your drone will have a class identification label between 0 and 4. You’ll have bought it before January 1st, 2023.

If you meet this categorization, EASA requires these drone pilots to follow certain rules. For instance, you cannot use your drone to drop materials from the sky, nor can you transport dangerous goods with it.

You must not fly higher than 120 meters or 400 feet with your Open category drone. You must also have a visual line of sight on your drone or be with a visual observer who can maintain VLOS for you.

You must also maintain a distance from people, avoiding direct flight over crowds unless your drone weighs under 250 grams and has a subcategory between A1 and A3.

You must have an approved application before launching a drone #

You’ll have to plan your drone flights carefully during your time in Mykonos. HCAA requires pilots to apply for approval for each drone flight. There’s no spontaneity here!

You can fill out this form, which is for non-European Union residents and European Union residents who live outside of Greece.

You must provide the following information:

A copy of your drone registration
A copy of your drone insurance
Your flight area maps, which you can complete using Drone Aware’s draw mode on their website (the link is included in the application form), print screening the drawing, and attaching it to your application
Your flight coordinates, which you can also use the DAGR site for in the flight manager section
Your information as a pilot, including your full name, passport number, nationality, address when staying in Greece, phone number, email address, and a copy of your drone license
Information on your drone, including its brand, model, type, serial number, weight with camera equipment, geofencing information, which EASA category it falls under, and a certificate of insurance
Flight area details, including flight polygon coordinates, your takeoff and landing locations, your maximum flight altitude, your flight area description, and the purpose of the flight

You must have property owner permission to fly over private property #

Greece forbids drones from flying over private property in most instances to protect the peace and privacy of others.

You must obtain permission from the property owner to fly over their property, or your flight path is illegal.

Commercial pilots must have drone insurance (and recreational pilots for heavier drones) #

If you’re only using a drone commercially and your drone weighs 4 kilograms or under, you don’t need insurance. However, if your drone exceeds 4 kilograms, you do need insurance.

Commercial pilots must always have insurance when operating a drone in Greece no matter how much your UAV weighs.

That also applies if you’re using your drone under EASA’s Certified or Specific categories, which are usually reserved for heavier drones or UAVs at a greater operational risk.

Keep your drone height within 120 meters #

In Greece, drones can ascend no higher than 120 meters, which is only 393 feet from the ground.

You can’t fly consecutively through multiple flight areas #

Did the HCAA approve several of your drone flights? Even if you’re flying in adjacent areas, you must still treat each flight area as its own individual space.

In other words, you must land in the original flight area, take your drone, move to the next flight area, and launch it in that second flight area.

You cannot fly a drone from one flight area into another, even if they’re adjacent to one another.

You must be contactable before your flight #

The HCAA or EASA might have to reach you before your drone flight. You should be contactable by phone 30 minutes ahead of your projected launch.

Ideally, HCAA and EASA want to be able to reach you whenever they must, but the timeframe above is crucial.

Do not use your drone in poor weather conditions #

If your trip to Greece is marred by stormy weather, strong winds, fog, or other conditions that make it dangerous to fly, HCAA requires you to ground your drone for another day.

It’s unclear if your drone permission would carry over to a different day due to inclement weather, so contact HCAA and ask.