Drone Laws in Croatia

Croatia Drone Regulations

According to Croatia’s national aviation authority, the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency, flying a drone is legal in Croatia, but we recommend being aware of and compliant with the drone regulations listed below before doing so.

If you’d like to contact the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency directly before you travel with any questions you might have, here is their contact information: uas@ccaa.hr / +385 1 2369 300

Why fly a drone in Croatia? To get aerial shots of beautiful spots like this!

General Rules for Flying a Drone Within the European Union

Croatia is a part of the European Union and therefore must abide by the drone regulations put in place by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). In addition to these regulations, Croatia also has regulations that are country-specific.

Based on our research and interpretation of the laws, here are the most important rules to know for flying a drone within the European Union.

There are three operational categories that determine drone regulations based on the weight of the drone and the intended operation. This section will only cover the Open Category, to see all European Union laws and categories, click here.

A drone can be operated in the “Open “category if:

• The drone has one of the class identification labels 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4.
• The drone was purchased before 1 January 2023, with no class identification label as above.
• The drone has a maximum take-off mass of less than 25 kg (55 lbs).
• The remote pilot keeps the drone at a safe distance away from people.
• The drone will not be operated directly over people unless it has a class identification label or is lighter than 250 g (0.55 lbs). (Please refer to subcategories of operations: A1, A2, and A3 to find out where you can fly with your drone).
• The remote pilot will maintain a visual line of sight (VLOS) or the remote pilot will be assisted by a UA observer.
• The remote pilot will not operate the drone above 120m (400ft).
• The drone will not carry any dangerous goods and will not drop any material.

General Rules for Flying a Drone in Croatia

Based on our research and interpretation of the laws, here are the most important rules to know for flying a drone in Croatia.

• When flying in controlled airspace, maintain a radius of at least 5 km from the aerodrome up to 50 m above the surface.
• Do not operate more than one drone at a time.
• Do not fly within the area in which emergency response effort is being conducted.

Rules for Flying a Drone at Night in Croatia

Drone flight operations may be conducted at night in accordance with the following provisions:

• The drone operator has met the registration, exam, and approval requirements designated above in Table 1. Please refer to the table since the requirements are not the same for every category of drone flight.
• The drone is equipped with lights that ensure the determination of orientation of the drone in the airspace.
• Lights on the drone must be visible to the remote pilot during the whole flight.

For more information on Croatia’s drone laws, see this page on the Croatian Air Traffic Control website.

Know something we don’t about drone laws in Croatia? Send us an email at support[at]horizonap[dot]com. We are not international aviation attorneys and do our best to keep this page up-to-date for drone pilots, but the reality is that given the pace of the small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) industry and how governments are responding, drone regulations in Croatia can change throughout the year, and those changes can be hard to track. If we missed something, please reach out to let us know.

Want to get a feel for the kind of footage you could get flying a drone in Croatia? Here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8kOpGfnkRM