Placeholder draft. AI-generated on the topics Adam flagged for the first blog batch. Read, edit, or replace before publishing.
London airspace is busy. Heathrow, City, Biggin Hill, RAF Northolt, and several smaller aerodromes each generate a Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ), and significant parts of central London sit inside one. For commercial drone work that means a bit more preparation, but it is not the showstopper people sometimes assume.
What an FRZ actually is
An FRZ is the protected airspace around a licensed aerodrome. Around most UK airports it is a 5 km radius plus the runway approach corridor, but each FRZ has its own published geometry. Flying a drone inside an FRZ without permission is an offence under the Air Navigation Order.
For Altitude that means: we identify the airspace as part of every desktop review, and where the site sits in an FRZ we request permission from the relevant air traffic provider before the flight.
What is needed before flying inside an FRZ
- A CAA Operational Authorisation (the framework our work is flown under)
- A site-specific RAMS that names the FRZ and lists mitigations
- FRZ permission from the controlling authority for that aerodrome
- A NOTAM where the flight profile warrants it
Permission is requested through the relevant air traffic control unit. In our experience, applications submitted with the right documentation are turned around in days, not weeks, but the lead time is real. If you have a site in a known FRZ, the earlier we know, the better.
A note on temporary restrictions
On top of the standing FRZs, central London regularly gets temporary restrictions (royal events, state visits, major sports, security operations). NOTAM checks happen on the day of any flight, and we will stand down rather than fly through a temporary restriction.
If you are unsure whether your site is in an FRZ, our airspace checker (link in the nav) will tell you in seconds. For anything ambiguous, just send us the postcode and we will confirm.
What this means for clients
For most jobs, the FRZ work is invisible: we book it in as part of our normal lead time and you receive imagery on schedule. For tight-deadline commercial inspections we will flag any FRZ implications up front so we can plan around them together.
