Dubai: The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) will soon issue new rules to regulate the use of drones and curb the uncontrolled and misuse of unmanned aircraft and aerial vehicles in the country.
The move comes after a recent incident when a recreational drone forced Dubai airport operations to stop for 55 minutes on Friday afternoon as it flew near the flight path of commercial airliners. No accidents were reported as police had intervened to keep the nuisance drone off the airport.
Saif Mohammad Al Suwaidi, Director-General of GCAA, said the authority will issue the new legislation to regulate the use of drones within the next few days.
“As a legislative and control authority to ensure the security and safety of air navigation in the country, we formed a national committee in 2013, tasked with commissioning a comprehensive survey on the use of drones and unmanned aerial vehicles, and set detailed rules to regulate the recreational use of such kinds of aircraft.”
The new regulations will be added to the regulations that are already in place, so as to prevent the use of airspace without obtaining a prior permit from the auth-ority and in coordination with competent and relevant air navigation bodies in the country, he added.
Al Suwaidi pointed out that the current legislation and rules ban the flying of unmanned aircraft and drones near airports, residential areas, public utilities and prohibited places.
He called on community members to abide by the legislations and rules to avert legal liability. Al Suwaidi urged the public to halt the misuse of drones that may endanger the safety of air navigation and people’s lives.
