Drone Approvals

Register Your Drone

It is a pre-requisite for the OPERATION of a drone. Please send the completed Form CAA/AU/015 via email.

Drones are categorized based on the Mass (MTOM);

1. Category D= 200 g or below
2. Category C= Above 200 g but at or below 1 kg
3. Category B= at 1 kg but below 25 kg
4. Category A= at 25 kg or above

If Drone’s weight is 200g or less which is not fitted with any data capturing or data retrieval tools such as a camera, there is no need to register with CAASL.

Change of Ownership and Deregistration

If you have purchased a CAASL registered drone, or if you want to sell CAASL resgistered drone, please complete the form CAA/AU/012 and send us via email.

If your drone is uncerviceable, please send the completed form CAA/AU/012 to deregister the drone.

Apply for Drone Flying Permission

A. Upon completion of registration, you can apply for drone operation permit/approval.

Part I - Security Clearance from the OCDS (Mandatory)
• At first obtain the Security Clearance from the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (OCDS).
• Submit your request to OCDS (at least 5 day prior of the operation) via email using the sample letter given.(OCDS Sample request letter).
• Contact details of OCDS:- Tel: +94 11 2674503; +94 11 2674506
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Part II- Approvals from the Other Respective Authorities
• In parallel to the above Part I please obtain “NO OBJECTION” Letters from respective local authorities which has the control overs the locations that you intends to operate your drone.
For examples:-

I. for operations over any archeologically important sites in Sri Lanka, please obtain a “NO OBJECTION” from Department of Archeology.

You may check your location

Contact Detail - Director General of Archeology
Department of Archeology
Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha
Colombo 07
Sri Lanka
ATTN: Director /Promotions
TP: + 94 11 2688326
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fax: + 94 11 2665882

II. for operations over any conservation site such as any Forest, National park, Nature reserves or wildlife. Please obtain “NO OBJECTION” letters from Department of Wild Life or Forest.

B. Request for operation approval from CAASL through CAA/AU/016 form via email together with OCDS letter, and Insurance cover (at least to cover 3rd party damages) at least 2 working days prior to the operation.

If any of your locations are within restricted or prohibited areas, please send the GPS coordinates of the locations together with CAA/AU/016 Form.

You may check restricted areas

C. You may make the payment to this Office by person or pay via online.

The online payment is available at the home page of www.caa.lk. 3% of the total payment will be deducted by the Bank as a convenience fee from the payee via online payment.

Kindly indicate the method of payment in CAA/AU/016 Form.
CAASL will contact you via email with the payment details, prior to issuing the approval permit.
Once after the payment you may collect your approval letter from this Office or if the payment is via online, the approval letter will be sent to you via email.

D. Fly your drone safely

• Make sure you adhere to the drone operation rules and regulation published by this office.
• Make sure that your drone is insured to cover any 3rd party injuries/ damages.
• Check your drone before each flight and read the conditions stipulated in the CAASL approval.
• Do not make changes to the drone, unless approved by the manufacturer
• Operate your drone within the performance limitations defined in the instructions provided by the manufacturer
• Familiarize yourself with the area where you want to operate your drone
• Before each flight, check the limitations of the area where you want to operate, defined by the CAASL, and respect them
• Do not fly in the proximity of airports, helipads, areas affecting public safety or where an emergency response effort is ongoing
• Do not fly over sensitive or protected sites (prisons, military bases, power plants, etc.)
• Check the weather conditions
• Do not use the drone to carry any goods or do not drop any items.
• Keep the drone in sight at all times
• Maintain a safe distance between the drone and people, animals and other aircraft, do not overfly people or assemblies of people.
• Do not take photographs, videos or sound recordings of people without their permission. Respect people’s privacy, civil rights and civil liberties of 3rd party.
• Inform local police & CAASL immediately if your drone is involved in an accident that results in a serious or fatal injury to a person, or that affects a manned aircraft. Please report via Mandatory Occurrence Report CAA/AU/017

Model Aircraft Flying

An individual or a member of flying club can send request for operational approval from CAASL.
You need to submit following information.

Part I - Security Clearance from the OCDS (Mandatory)

At first obtain the Security Clearance from the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (OCDS).
Submit your request to OCDS using attached sample letter via email.

Sample letter - (OCDS Sample request letter).

Contact details of OCDS:- Tel: +94 11 2674503; +94 11 2674506
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Part II - Complete CAASL form CAA/AU/013 together with;

List of model aircraft with the details of type, model, operating frequency, weight and fuel type (Attachment I)
List of members of the Club with their Full Names, NIC , Addresses and Contact numbers (Attachment II)
Operating area with GPS coordinates of corner points of the area
Consent letter from the location owner
Dates of intended operations

Restricted Areas

How to Import a Drone into Sri Lanka

Please note that, prior to import a drone into the country, you are required to obtain necessary permission/no objections from the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL), Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) and Import & Export Control Department.

If you are engage in drone importation as a business you are required to obtain a permit from CAASL. To obtain a permit please click here.

The following steps describes the drone importation process.

Step 1 (Check the Drone Type is Approved or Not)

Check whether your drone type which is to be imported to the country is in the approved list. (Approved Drone Type List)

If the type is not in the approved type list, you need to apply for type approval from CAASL using following application CAA/AU/019.

(Please note that it may take up to 7 working days and you should submit any details upon the request of CAASL)

Once you obtained the permission for your drone type from CAASL, you may apply security clearance from MOD and follow the rest of the steps as per the flow chart above.

If your drone is in the Approved list, no objection from CAASL is not required. You may apply for the security clearance from MOD and follow the rests of the steps as per the flow chart above.

Step 2 (Obtaining Security Clearance from the Ministry of Defence)

Apply for security clearance from the Ministry of Defence to import a drone in to the country using below contacts;

Email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website - http://www.defence.lk

Step 3 (Obtaining Spectrum Clearance from Telecommunication Regulatory Commission)

After obtaining the MOD security clearance apply for spectrum clearance from Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.

Email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone Number – 0112 689 345; Extension: 4122
Contact Person – Ms. Hiranya Kumarasiri
Website - http://www.trc.gov.lk/

Step 4 (Obtaining Import Control License)

After obtaining above approvals you are required to obtain Import Control License to clear your units from the Sri Lanka Customs

Website - http://www.imexport.gov.lk/index.php/en/

Step 5 (Collect your item from SL Customs)

You may clear your items from Sri Lanka Customs upon completion the above steps.

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