Drone Ops Consultants

Flight Restriction Zone permission

Airports and protected sites

A Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ) is protected airspace around a UK airport, airfield, heliport or spaceport. You cannot fly a drone or model aircraft inside one without permission, whatever its size and whether the flight is commercial or not. The permission comes from the aerodrome side (air traffic control, the flight information service or the aerodrome operator), not from the CAA.

This guide explains how an aerodrome FRZ is shaped, who you ask and how, how other restricted airspace such as prison zones and temporary restrictions differs, and how FRZ permission sits alongside the Open and Specific categories and a CAA operational authorization. Facts were checked against CAA, legislation.gov.uk and NATS pages in October 2026.

Vetted consultants

3 results

Vaspba Remote Piloted Systems Ltd

Winfrith, GB

CAA Regulatory Consultancy | Agriculture | Heavy Lift | BVLOS | Drone Forensics & Expert Witness Support

Vaspba Remote Piloted Systems Ltd is a UK specialist in uncrewed aircraft systems, regulatory consultancy and operational support. We assist organisations with CAA Operational Authorisations, PDRA and SORA applications, ConOps, Operations Manuals, risk assessments, compliance evidence and BVLOS projects. Our services also include independent drone accident investigation, flight-log analysis, technical reporting and expert-witness support for legal, insurance and commercial disputes. With practical experience in UAS design, integration, testing, servicing and operations, we provide evidence-based advice grounded in real-world aviation and engineering experience.

CAA
Flight Restriction Zone permission

The Drone Office

London, GB

Expert regulatory support for complex drone operations.UK & Europe. Commercial & Defence.

Our mission: SORA drone regulations made accessible. The Drone Office supports drone operators, UAS manufacturers and technology providers secure their operational authorisations and access strategic markets. From SORA compliance to partnerships and funding, we turn regulatory and market complexity into a competitive advantage. We bring clarity to complex challenges. We help frame the operation, prepare the SORA documentation, engage with the regulator, and remain committed until the authorisation is secured.

CAAEASA
Flight Restriction Zone permission

Pegasus Vectoring

London, GB

Pegasus Vectoring provides specialist consultancy for organisations developing and operating unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the Specific Category. They guide clients from initial operational concept through SORA development, regulatory authorisation, and ongoing compliance assurance, ensuring safe, practical and regulator‑defensible capabilities. Services include operational design, airspace and ground environment assessment, SORA and operational authorisation support, competence development

Pegasus Vectoring Limited is an independent specialist consultancy helping organisations develop safe, practical and regulator-ready unmanned aviation capabilities. We start with the client’s operational need—not a predetermined regulatory solution. Working collaboratively, we define the objective, characterise the operating environment and develop a proportionate operational and regulatory strategy. Our support extends from early feasibility and concept development through risk assessment, OSC and SORA applications, operational documentation, findings resolution and ongoing assurance. Our experience includes BVLOS operations within Atypical Air Environments, critical infrastructure and heavy-lift UAS. Led by a former airline captain with 23 years of aviation experience and UK CAA and UAE GCAA Airline Transport Pilot Licences, Pegasus combines operational judgement with structured regulatory analysis. Our aim is not simply to secure an approval, but to help clients establish a safe, sustainable and scalable operational capability.

CAA
Flight Restriction Zone permission

Awaiting vetting

Members completing our checks. They can be contacted once vetted.

Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Ltd

Cranfield, GB

From Concept to Certification. Trusted UK SORA, Airworthiness & Design Engineering Experts.

Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) is one of the UK's leading aviation engineering and certification organisations, providing independent consultancy services for UK SORA, RPAS airworthiness, aircraft design, modification, and regulatory approval. With over 30 years of aerospace engineering excellence, CAeS supports clients across civil, defence, and uncrewed aviation sectors, helping organisations navigate complex regulatory challenges and bring innovative aircraft and UAV systems into operation safely and compliantly. Our multidisciplinary team delivers end-to-end support, from operational concept development and UK SORA assessments through to aircraft design, safety analysis, flight test programmes, certification planning, and regulatory engagement. We combine practical engineering experience with deep airworthiness expertise to reduce programme risk, accelerate approvals, and enable successful deployment. CAeS has contributed to more than 750 air vehicle programmes, including conventional aircraft, rotorcraft, advanced air mobility platforms, defence systems, and next-generation uncrewed aircraft. Recent projects have included the development of hydrogen-electric propulsion systems and hydrogen-native UAV platforms, placing CAeS at the forefront of sustainable aviation innovation. As a holder of UK CAA Part 21J Design Organisation Approval, BCAR A8-21 approval, and MAA DAOS approval covering aeroplanes, helicopters, and RPAS, CAeS offers a unique combination of regulatory authority, practical engineering capability, and operational experience. Our team regularly supports compliance strategies across CS-23, CS-25, CS-27, CS-29 and equivalent international certification frameworks, working closely with authorities including the UK CAA, EASA, FAA, TCCA, GACA, and military airworthiness organisations worldwide. Whether you require a UK SORA submission, certification strategy, aircraft modification approval, flight-test support, or complete design engineering services, CAeS provides the expertise to take your programme from concept to certified operation.

CAAEASA
Flight Restriction Zone permission

What a Flight Restriction Zone is

FRZs are set out in article 94A of the Air Navigation Order 2016 and apply around every protected aerodrome: certified, UK licensed and Government aerodromes, plus any aerodrome specifically prescribed. Space sites have their own FRZ. The CAA describes the aerodrome FRZ as several shapes added together, all reaching 2,000 feet above the aerodrome:

  • The Aerodrome Traffic Zone (ATZ): a circle of 2 or 2.5 nautical miles radius centred on the longest runway
  • Runway Protection Zones: strips 1km wide running 5km out from each runway end, well beyond the ATZ circle
  • Any additional zones where the aerodrome boundary extends beyond the ATZ
  • Aerodromes without an ATZ: a circle of 2 nautical miles radius instead
  • Heliports: no Runway Protection Zones
  • Spaceports: a cylinder of 5km radius around the launch pad, also to 2,000 feet

Who grants permission, and how to ask

The ANO sets the order: ask the air traffic control unit if it is open at the time of your flight. If there is no ATC or it is closed, ask the flight information service unit. If neither is operating, ask the aerodrome operator. Contact details for each aerodrome are in the UK Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP), and FRZ boundaries are published in AIP section ENR 5.1.

Each aerodrome decides its own process, which can be anything from a phone call to an online platform. For the airports where NATS provides air traffic control, requests go through the NATS drone portal, which warns that London restricted areas can take longer. Notice periods vary by aerodrome, so allow up to 28 days in some cases. Where a digital approval service is available, the portal sends you to it (NATS has partnered with Altitude Angel's Drone Assist for this). Submitting a request is not permission: you fly only once the aerodrome has said yes, and you must follow any conditions it sets, such as limits on area or height.

Aerodromes may check your Operator ID and pilot competence before agreeing, and can set a higher competence level for some work, such as flying inside the airfield boundary. CAA guidance says each request should be considered on its merits and in a timely way, that blanket bans and access fees are not appropriate in many circumstances, and that aerodromes can refuse on reasonable grounds, including safety and security. If you think a request was refused unreasonably, the CAA has an Airspace Access Reporting form, although it does not investigate every report.

Other restricted airspace, and how it differs

FRZs are only one kind of restriction. The CAA also uses prohibited, restricted and danger areas, which can be permanent or temporary and are published in the AIP and by NOTAM. Each has a sponsor who decides on access, and the sponsor must say how to request it.

  • Prisons (England and Wales): since 25 January 2024, regulations restrict unmanned flight over listed prisons and young offender institutions below a set altitude for each site. Permission comes from HM Prison and Probation Service or its National Incident Management Unit, not from an aerodrome
  • Other permanent restrictions: military ranges and bases, royal palaces and government buildings commonly have them, and central London needs permissions from more than one agency
  • Temporary restrictions: these are created for events or at very short notice after an emergency, can appear anywhere, and are notified by NOTAM. The CAA's Skywise service lists some, but not all, so it should not be your only check
  • Council land: a byelaw permission to take off or land on council land is not airspace permission, and does not replace FRZ permission or an operational authorization

How FRZ permission fits with Open, Specific and your OA

FRZ permission and operational authorization are separate things, and you may need both. The CAA is clear that an aerodrome or other sponsor can only give permission to enter its airspace. It cannot authorize the operation itself: anything outside the Open category limits still needs a CAA operational authorization.

So an Open category flight inside an FRZ needs the aerodrome's permission and must still meet every Open category rule. A Specific category flight needs its operational authorization (for example under PDRA01 or a UK SORA-based application) and the aerodrome's permission. Flying above 400 feet needs a CAA operational authorization, and inside an FRZ it also needs the aerodrome's permission. Your operational authorization will itself say you must not enter an airspace restriction without the right permission, so build the FRZ check and request into your operations manual procedures.

What a consultant does, and what to ask before hiring

Most single FRZ requests are straightforward to make yourself. A consultant earns their fee on regular or complex work: inspections or survey on or near an airfield, flights above 400 feet, BVLOS, or sites where FRZs, restricted areas and prison zones overlap. They can map every restriction affecting a site, prepare the request pack, write the FRZ procedures into your operations manual and align them with your operational authorization, and help you approach an aerodrome about a standing agreement for repeat work, which CAA guidance allows. They cannot grant permission or promise an outcome: the aerodrome or other sponsor decides. Operators can compare vetted consultants on DOC, where regulator experience is shown as verified only where it has been evidenced.

  • Which aerodromes or restricted areas have you helped operators get permission for, and how recently?
  • Will this job also need a CAA operational authorization, or a change to the one we hold?
  • Can you write FRZ and airspace-check procedures into our operations manual?
  • Is a standing agreement with the aerodrome realistic for our repeat work?

Common mistakes

Most FRZ problems come from assuming one permission covers another. Watch for these:

  • Treating an operational authorization as permission to enter an FRZ (it is not)
  • Treating aerodrome permission as approval to fly above 400 feet or outside Open category limits
  • Checking the ATZ circle but missing the Runway Protection Zones that extend 5km from the runway ends
  • Relying on a drone app or manufacturer geofencing alone (the CAA says you are responsible for the accuracy of the data you use)
  • Checking once at quote stage rather than before every flight, and missing a short-notice temporary restriction
  • Asking too close to the job date, or taking a submitted request as an approval

Common questions

Do I need FRZ permission for a drone under 250g?

Yes. The CAA says airspace restrictions, including Flight Restriction Zones, apply to all drones and model aircraft, including those under 250g. The ANO requirement covers unmanned aircraft generally rather than only larger ones. If any part of your flight enters an FRZ, you need permission from the aerodrome's air traffic control, flight information service or aerodrome operator first.

How big is an airport Flight Restriction Zone?

It varies by aerodrome. The CAA describes it as the Aerodrome Traffic Zone (a 2 or 2.5 nautical mile circle), plus Runway Protection Zones 1km wide running 5km from each runway end, plus any extra areas where the boundary extends beyond the ATZ, all up to 2,000 feet. Exact boundaries are published in the UK AIP, section ENR 5.1.

Does my operational authorization let me fly in an FRZ?

No. An operational authorization from the CAA covers how you operate, not access to restricted airspace. CAA guidance says only the aerodrome or other airspace sponsor can give permission to enter its airspace, and your authorization itself requires you to obtain that permission before entering any airspace restriction. Treat them as two separate requirements and check both for every job.

How much notice should I give an airport?

Notice periods vary, because each aerodrome sets its own process and lead time. Check its published procedure in the UK AIP or on its website, and allow up to 28 days in some cases. For airports where NATS provides air traffic control, requests go through the NATS drone portal, which warns that London restricted areas can take longer. Some airports offer faster digital approvals.

Is a prison no-fly zone the same as an FRZ?

No. Aerodrome FRZs come from article 94A of the Air Navigation Order. Prison restrictions in England and Wales come from separate regulations in force since 25 January 2024, with their own boundaries and heights for each site. Permission comes from HM Prison and Probation Service or its National Incident Management Unit rather than an aerodrome. Check the current rules before flying near any prison.