Which drone map should you use in France in 2026?

No map shows everything: each covers part of the restrictions. The official map answers « where may I fly in normal times? ». Temporary restrictions and NOTAMs are authoritative on the SIA and SOFIA-Briefing, to read on the day of the flight; the free AirOps map draws them on a single map. A mission preparation tool such as Dronops analyses the area you draw, lists the NOTAMs that touch it in mainland France and prepares the formalities.

This guide presents each one with what it shows, its limits and its price, then compares them in a table. The zones themselves are explained in our airspace guide.

The « Restrictions UAS catégorie Ouverte et Aéromodélisme » map is published by IGN for the DGAC. Many still look for it under the Géoportail name: the Géoportail addresses of the drone restrictions map now lead to cartes.gouv.fr, where it sits under « Explorer les cartes ».

• What it shows: the zones where flying a leisure drone is prohibited or restricted, in mainland France, French Guiana, the French Antilles, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Mayotte, La Réunion and the French Southern Lands.
• For whom: the Open category and model aircraft. It is not built for the Specific category (standard scenarios, SORA).
• Its date: IGN's metadata present it as the June 2026 edition.
• Its price: free, no account.

The official map does not cover temporary bans: NOTAMs, SUP AIPs and local orders are read elsewhere. IGN says so in the layer's description:

« Elle intègre partiellement les interdictions s'appuyant sur des données non publiées à l'AIP et ne couvre pas les interdictions temporaires. […] Le contour des agglomérations est fourni à titre purement indicatif. » (It partially includes bans based on data not published in the AIP and does not cover temporary bans. The outline of built-up areas is given for information only.)

• NOTAMs and the temporary zones of SUP AIPs (air show, exercise, disaster) are not on it.
• The activation hours of the very-low-altitude network (RTBA) are not on it.
• Municipal and prefectoral orders, such as a ban during an event or in the nesting season, are not on it.
• The outline of built-up areas is indicative: in a populated area the rule depends on the category, see the prefecture declaration.

The French Aeronautical Information Service (SIA) publishes the AIP, the SUP AIPs and the NOTAMs: it is the authoritative source. It also publishes a dataset of UAS geographical zones, updated on the AIRAC calendar, and the AZBA maps of the RTBA hours. The user guide of that dataset states:

« Les données sont destinées à des fins de géo-vigilance. Elles ne peuvent pas être utilisées seules pour des activités influant directement sur la sécurité des vols. » (The data are meant for geo-awareness. They cannot be used alone for activities directly affecting flight safety.)

SOFIA-Briefing is the DSNA's flight preparation tool. Free, on computer, tablet and smartphone, it gives the NOTAMs, links to the SUP AIPs and the AZBA maps, and Météo-France information. The SIA and SOFIA-Briefing remain the reference, to read on the day of the flight.

AirOps's SUP-UAV map, on airops-supuav.fr, presents itself as « la cartographie drone vue et administrée par un contrôleur aérien » (drone mapping seen and run by an air traffic controller). It fills exactly the gap IGN declares: the free AirOps map (SUP-UAV) draws NOTAMs, SUP AIPs and municipal and prefectoral orders, and it is updated every day.

• What it shows: NOTAMs, SUP AIPs, municipal and prefectoral orders, natural areas missing from the official map and some private sites open to the public; the RTBA and Zone Centre R368 hours; the SETBA, VOLTAC and SEBAH sectors.
• What it lets you do: project the map to a future date and hour, find the aeronautical night at a point, switch to 3D.
• Its updates: according to its publisher, the map is updated daily to include the latest NOTAMs and AZBA and Zone Centre hours.
• Its price: free, no account needed to view the map. The airops-uas.fr site adds a regulatory blog, a page of links to the official formalities and a map of drone incidents.
• Its limit, which it states itself: it has no official or legal value, and the SIA remains the reference.

• drone-spot.fr (Drone-Spot) and dronespot.fr (Drone Spot) are two different sites with close names, aimed at finding places to fly. They lay regulatory layers over their map: check on each what every layer holds and how recent it is.
• Your manufacturer's map, built into the drone's app, does not replace the official sources.

Dronops is not a public map: it is a mission preparation tool for professional operators, and its map is for Dronops accounts only. At every AIRAC cycle, every 28 days, it takes up the SIA zones (CTR, TMA, P, R and D zones, aerodrome protections, natural areas), with the SUP AIP temporary zones in mainland France, the RTBA activation from the SIA bulletin, the ZICADs, the built-up areas, the microlight bases and the local orders we collect, a partial watch. Its basemap is OpenStreetMap, not the ICAO aeronautical chart.

A map is enough to scout a site. A professional mission needs more: which zones the flight area crosses, at what height above the ground, near which obstacles, and which formalities follow. That is the job of a mission preparation tool.

• Dronops analyses the area while you draw it: zones crossed, obstacles, height measured above the ground.
• It deduces the formalities and prepares them: the AlphaTango declaration, the formality with the Ministry of the Armed Forces through AlphaTango, the CERFA 15476*04 for the prefecture.
• It analyses planned missions again when the zones, the NOTAMs or the obstacles change.

1. 1Scout the site: the permanent zones on cartes.gouv.fr, the temporary restrictions on the AirOps map or in your mission preparation tool.
2. 2On the day of the flight, read the NOTAMs and SUP AIPs on SOFIA-Briefing or on the SIA website, and the RTBA hours if it is close.
3. 3Ask the town hall or the prefecture about local orders.
4. 4At the slightest doubt, do not fly.