I will be traveling to Austria in a couple of months and wondered if I can travel with my drone as hand luggage?
Also has anyone any experience of flying drones in Austria?
check with your airline your flying with regarding drones and batteries as its not a standard policy across the industry - it really should be but each airline has their own rules but they are basically much the same.
Batteries in carry on - and the drone can be bit hit and miss depending on the airline but personally I would take all onboard as carry on in a suitable carry on bag so as to not get anything damaged.
4 Likes
Thanks for that.
Such a shame there is not a standard across all airlines and airport security for drones.
2 Likes
I’ve taken mine in hand luggage each time (as i do with cameras and laptops).
As for flying in Austria - not quite, but have flown in Netherlands, Norway and Denmark. There is one flying license for Europe - so I completed operator and flying info for Norway and it’s transferable for the rest of mainland Europe.
The regs changed this year (country dependant) for all three I’ve flown in - there is now an online request for flying - actually it’s not a request but more of a log of location and other info.
Best to check the Austrian government website to be sure - but based on my experience it shouldn’t take much effort to tick the right boxes.
Bet you’ll see some amazing things there
1 Like
Drone and batteries in hand luggage. All airlines ban lithium batteries in hold baggage, so they have to be in hand luggage, and the drone itself I’d rather not have chucked about and crushed in hold baggage either.
I’ve never had an issue with my Mini 3 Pro in a rucksack along with my camera, Kindle, and snacks 
going to Iceland and Norway several times.UK airport security often want the electronics out of the bag in the tray for screening, but it depends on the airport. Never unpacked it in Keflavik, Tromso or Oslo though.
But yes - get your EASA Operator number (I used Iceland’s website, but any EU + Iceland/Norway/Switzerland country will do). Then see if there are any specific requirements for where you can fly in Austria, you might need to register where you’re planning to fly (like for Norway), or there might be some no-fly zones around specific areas (maybe ski-lifts for example)
2 Likes
Thanks fella’s
1 Like
Get a lipo safe bag and put all your batteries in it. Security/airlines sometime get fussy over it.
I appreciate this thread is a few months old, but maybe someone can shed some light for me. According EASA, if I want o fly in Austria, I need to register via Austro Control. The problem I encountered is that, whilst there is an English version at the front page, when I click on the link for drones, it reverts to Austrian and when I click on the language tab again (to convert back the ENG) it takes me back to the front page. Does anyone know how I can do this in English!?
will your web browser not translate the site for you ? Chrome can do it.
1 Like
Many thanks Peter. that hadn’t occurred to me. I don’t use it as a rule as I have Safari on my iMac, but I’ll see if I can use it for this
there is a translate option in Safari too on the Mac - or you can go to google translate and paste the URL of the website you want to translate and it should do it too for you
2 Likes
Well you live and learn. I didn’t know safari had one too!!! Many thanks
That said, if you scroll down on that landing page to the ‘Registration’ section whilst it’s set to English and click the link instead of the big blue button at the top, the information page for registration and the subsequent page to actually register are both in English for me. So you might be able to get away without the Safari translation at all?
Final thought, I’m 99.9% sure that as a visitor, if you’re registered in any EASA country with the A1/A3 certificate then you’re covered for Austria. I’m registered in Norway. I’ve seen others talking about registering in Ireland, Italy, and elsewhere. So if you’re more comfortable in another European language and/or a more regular visitor to another European country, might be worth thinking about registering there instead.
I’m not currently registered anywhere in the EU, so I need to do it anyway. I plan to go to France with the drone next year as well, so this will serve as a useful exercise. I tried the Safari translator and that works fine, so I’ve managed to navigate to what I need. Now I just need to understand what I can and can’t do on Dronespace, as I plan to fly in a cityscape. Have you flown in Austria at all? This is their Dronescape map with flight restriction in Vienna
1 Like
Glad you got registered.
No, afraid I’ve never even been to Austria, let along flown a drone there.
1 Like
Thought I’d ask! I shall contact them I think and try to find out if they require a flight plan, as is suggested. Being in the A1 category, below 250gm, (with the Mini 4 Pro) I should be able fly without submitting anything. Just need to dot the I’s. I don’t fancy a fat fine! I don’t plan to take the Air 3s to Austria. From January, I should be able to fly it in Europe, but not at this stage
Remember, the Air3S is properly class-marked for EASA as a C1. No waiting until January for that.
So I see! 