UA Operator and Activity Permits

Operator Permit

CAAS grants an Operator Permit to an organisation or individual that demonstrates the ability to operate the Unmanned Aircraft (UA) safely. The assessment will include, but not limited to, the applicant’s organisational set-up, procedures to manage safety including the conduct of safety risk assessments, airworthiness of each of UA, and competency of the personnel involved in the flying of the UA. The Operator Permit is valid for one year.

Please refer to the list of UA Operator Permit Holders for information on approved UA operators.

* All Operator Permit holders will also be required to subscribe to the Centralised Flight Management System (CFMS) service and attach a UA tracker on their UA before operating a UA from 1 June 2022. For more information on CFMS, please refer to the Advisory Circular titled “Centralised Flight Management System”.

Activity Permit

CAAS grants an Activity Permit to an organisation or individual for a single activity or a block of repeated activities to be carried out by a UA taking into account the location(s) of operation, type(s) of operation to be conducted, date(s) / time(s) during which the operation(s) to be conducted, operating altitude and mitigation measures to address location-specific circumstances.

There are two types of activity permits:

• A Class 1 Activity Permit is required for UA activities conducted for purposes that are not recreational or educational in nature; or if the UA to be used for recreational purposes is over 25 kilograms in total mass; or if the UA to be used for educational purposes is over 7 kilograms in total mass. A Class 1 Activity Permit is not valid without a UA Operator Permit.

• A Class 2 Activity Permit is required for UA activities conducted outdoors if the UA to be used for recreational purposes is 25 kilograms or below in total mass; or if UA to be used for educational purposes is 7 kilograms or below in total mass; and when the planned activity meets any of the following conditions:
  • Operating altitude higher than 200 feet (approx. 60 metres) above mean sea level (AMSL);
  • Within 5 kilometres of any civil aerodrome or military airbase; or
  • Within any restricted or danger area.

The average processing time of applications are as stated below. Please note that the processing time is subject to the complexity of the proposed UA operations and the full submission of all required supporting documents.

The applicable fees are listed as follows:

To obtain a permit and/or CFMS UA tracker, users will need to do the following: