Flying over a populated area: how do you declare a drone flight to the prefecture?

The French « espace » order of 3 December 2020 subjects flights over a populated area to a prior declaration to the competent prefect, who may prohibit or restrict the flight. A drone is over a populated area when it flies:

• within a built-up area shown on the SIA aeronautical charts (at 1:500,000, failing that at 1:250,000 or 1:100,000), or less than 50 metres from it;
• less than 150 metres from a gathering of people, meaning a gathering dense enough that the people present cannot move away: a show or sports audience, public parks, beaches or tourist sites at busy times, a parade.

Built-up areas marked as « navigation landmarks / small built-up areas » on the chart do not count. Overseas, where no SIA chart exists at these scales, every built-up area counts.

An operator declared in the Specific category may also fly over a populated area under the Open category rules, as part of their professional activity and after the same declaration.

The declaration must be sent ten clear working days ahead: neither the day of the declaration nor the first day of flights counts. French « jours ouvrables » are not Monday-to-Friday business days: Saturday counts, only Sundays and public holidays are left out, and the holidays are those of the flight site (Alsace-Moselle and the overseas territories have their own).

You may declare a range of dates, for flights planned every day or to keep a margin for contingencies, and exclude some dates from it. Beyond 7 days (first and last day included), the declaration must come with supporting justification: a client's contract, or the owner's permission for a flight zone outside public space.

The declaration goes to the territorially competent prefecture, the one responsible for the place of the flights, not the one of the operator's head office. According to the glossary of the DGAC guide to the Specific category, that is the préfet de police for Paris, the préfet de police des Bouches-du-Rhône for the Bouches-du-Rhône, and the préfet de département everywhere else. Before the first declaration, the DGAC advises contacting that prefecture to find out which supporting documents it expects.

The form is titled « déclaration préalable au vol en zone peuplée d'un aéronef sans équipage à bord » (prior declaration of an unmanned aircraft flight over a populated area). Its information notice describes each section:

The notice also lists the documents to attach: identity documents of the declarant and the remote pilots, acknowledgement of the operational declaration (or operator status statement), AlphaTango register extract for the aircraft, a valid insurance certificate, training certificates matching the flight regime, proof of the professional purpose of the operation, mention of any ZICAD in the area, aeronautical charts and flight plans.

The completed, signed CERFA is sent to the prefecture; the DGAC guide to the Open category specifies that it may be sent by email.

Both channels meet the same obligation, with the same 10 working days' notice. The DGAC recommends declaring online on AlphaTango; the CERFA sent to the prefecture remains the alternative. The steps on the portal are covered in our AlphaTango guide.

• AlphaTango: the prefecture receives an automatic email, which is copied to you; that copy does not prejudge a later reply from the prefecture. The portal refuses a declaration filed more than one month ahead.
• CERFA: no ceiling on how early you file, but keeping proof of sending and the exact version of the form filed is up to you.

The order of 23 December 2025 amended Article 6 of the « espace » order of 3 December 2020: the notice for a populated-area declaration went from five to ten working days. The five-day version applied until 31 December 2025; since 1 January 2026 it is ten. The DGAC guide to the Specific category (edition 2, March 2026) carries this notice and its counting rule. A calendar template or internal procedure written before 2026 therefore counts half the notice now required.

• Counting the day of the declaration or the first day of flights among the ten, or counting Sundays and public holidays: the notice is not met, and the flight may only take place with the prefecture's approval.
• Sending it to the wrong prefecture: the declaration goes to the one of the flight site.
• Changing the flight without a new declaration: any change to the declared data requires a new declaration and, if it no longer meets the notice, the prefecture's prior approval.
• Flying an aircraft or on a site missing from the declaration: only the declared models and sites may be used.
• Declaring more than 7 days without attached justification.
• Leaving the insurance certificate out of the documents: it is on the notice's list. What the policy must cover is detailed in our insurance guide.
• Not telling the prefecture about a complete cancellation: the notice asks you to inform it.