To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which parties were consulted on the adequacy of the 400 ft height and 1 km radius exclusion zone on the use of drones adjacent to airports.
Answered on
10 January 2019
On 7th January 2019, the Government published its response to the recent consultation on the safe use and effective regulation of drones; “Taking Flight: The Future of Drones in the UK”. There was significant interest in the consultation, which closed on 17 September and received around 5,000 responses.
One of the key topics covered in the consultation was whether the current airport restriction was sufficient, and if not, what kind of further extension should be considered. As a result, the exclusion zone around airports will be extended to approximately a 5km-radius (3.1 miles), with additional extensions at the end of each runway.
The consultation response document can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-future-of-drones-in-the-uk-consultation . Chapter 5 includes a summary of responses to the questions on the airport restriction zone, and summarises the views received from aerodromes and airlines, model aircraft fliers and leisure users of drones, amongst others.
As explained in the consultation response, The Department for Transport will still be instructing the CAA to review the effectiveness of aerodrome restriction measures during the next year.