Flying drones in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: zones, paperwork and contacts

Who it is for

• Industrial firms, local authorities, infrastructure owners and ski areas commissioning a drone job in the region
• Foreign and French professional pilots working in Lyon, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand, Saint-Étienne or in the mountains
• Producers and agencies planning a shoot in town, in a ski resort or in high mountains

What this guide does not do: This guide grants no authorisation and does not replace checking Géoportail and the French AIS on the day of the flight · It does not cover Swiss law, which applies as soon as a flight crosses the border

Contents of the complete guide

1. What changes when you fly in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (free extract below)
2. Airports, airfields and military bases
3. Prohibited, restricted and sensitive sites
4. National parks, reserves, lakes and mountains
5. Major towns: what is specific
6. Préfectures: where and how to notify
7. Events and seasons with heavy restrictions
8. Three concrete cases in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, from request to flight
9. Regional checklist and official sources

Included: 12 checklist items and 6 decision or reference tables.

Introduction

This regional edition gathers everything specific to Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes when you want to fly a drone or commission a drone job: the control zones of Lyon, Geneva and the Alpine airports, the four nuclear power plants and other nuclear installations, the chemical valley south of Lyon, the Mont Blanc massif and its seasonal protection, parks and reserves, the military low-level network over the Massif Central, the twelve préfectures and the major events. It is written first for business clients (industry, energy, local authorities, ski areas, real estate, production) and the pilots who work for them, including teams coming from abroad.

How to read it: chapter 1 for the regional logic, then the chapters relevant to your job, then the checklist in the last chapter. The general framework (open category, STS-01 and STS-02, the French decree of 23 December 2025) is assumed.

Up to date as of 30 September 2026. Zone boundaries change: the official Géoportail drone restriction map and the publications of the French aeronautical information service (SIA) on the day of the flight always prevail.

What changes when you fly in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

The region combines a major city under two control zones, the highest nuclear density in France, a chemical corridor, high mountains and a stretch of Swiss border. Here are the eight specifics that change how a job is prepared.

1. Four operating nuclear plants, and more

Bugey (Ain), Saint-Alban - Saint-Maurice (Isère), Cruas-Meysse (Ardèche) and Tricastin (Drôme): around each nuclear installation, the published prohibited zone typically extends 5 km in radius and up to 1,000 m height. Add Creys-Malville (Isère, being dismantled), the Institut Laue-Langevin research reactor on Grenoble's scientific peninsula and the fuel fabrication site at Romans-sur-Isère. The whole Rhône valley is checked address by address.

2. Lyon under two CTRs

The Lyon-Saint-Exupéry control zone to the east and the Lyon-Bron zone over eastern Lyon and Villeurbanne frame the city. A job above the displayed height requires an air navigation agreement (see our guide to drone missions inside an airport CTR).

3. The Geneva CTR spills into France

In the Haute-Savoie Genevois (Annemasse, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois) and the Pays de Gex (Ain), Geneva airport's controlled airspace imposes very low ceilings. The border is a few hundred metres away: a flight that crosses it falls under the Swiss authorities.

4. The chemical valley

South of Lyon (Feyzin, Saint-Fons, Pierre-Bénite, Solaize), a concentration of upper-tier Seveso sites. The constraint is not only airspace: the operator's agreement and prevention plan come before any flight.

5. Mont Blanc is protected

A prefectoral natural habitat protection order signed on 1 October 2020 protects more than 3,000 hectares on the slopes of Mont Blanc and prohibits, among other things, landing by any means, drones included. A seasonal restricted airspace (1 June to 15 October) also bans low-level overflight there.

6. Two national parks and very large mountain reserves

Vanoise (Savoie) and Écrins (Isère side): core overflight below 1,000 m prohibited unless the park director authorises it. Nature reserves of the Hauts-Plateaux du Vercors, Aiguilles Rouges, Passy, Sixt-Passy, Contamines-Montjoie, Bout-du-Lac d'Annecy: their own rules.

7. The Massif Central under the low-level network

In Auvergne, large areas (including the Chaîne des Puys) are covered by sections of the military very-low-level network, activated on a published schedule (AZBA), with reduced local heights on Géoportail.

8. Mountains: terrain, helicopters, cables

In the mountains, the 120 m limit is measured from the ground overflown; rescue helicopters, paragliders, gliders and ski-lift cables share the same low layer. In ski resorts, the lift operator's agreement is essential.

Frequently asked questions

How do I receive the guide?

Right after payment you are redirected to the complete guide's page. Bookmark it, or print it to PDF (Ctrl+P or Cmd+P, “Save as PDF”). Stripe also emails you the receipt.

Do I get an invoice?

Yes: Stripe generates the invoice and emails it. You can enter your company name and VAT number at checkout.

Is the guide kept up to date?

Yes. The guide's page is updated when the rules change; your access stays valid and you always read the latest version.

Does this guide replace the official texts or a training course?

No. C-DRONE is neither the French civil aviation authority (DGAC) nor a training organisation: the guide explains and organises the paperwork, with links to the official sources, which alone are authoritative.

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