Flying drones in Occitanie: zones, paperwork and contacts

Who it is for

• Industrial firms, local authorities, wine estates and heritage managers commissioning a drone job in Occitanie
• Foreign and French professional pilots working in Toulouse, Montpellier, Nîmes, Perpignan or in the mountains
• Producers and agencies planning a shoot on the coast, in the Pyrenees or at a UNESCO site

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 Spanish or Andorran rules, which apply as soon as a flight crosses the border

Contents of the complete guide

1. What changes when you fly in Occitanie (free extract below)
2. Airports, airfields and military bases
3. Prohibited, restricted and sensitive sites
4. National parks, reserves, coast 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 Occitanie, from request to flight
9. Regional checklist and official sources

Included: 12 checklist items and 7 decision or reference tables.

Introduction

This regional edition gathers everything specific to Occitanie when you want to fly a drone or commission a drone job: the Toulouse control zone and the aerospace sites, the coastal airports, the Civil Security air base at Nîmes, the military camps including Larzac, the Golfech and Marcoule nuclear installations, the Cévennes and Pyrenees national parks, the UNESCO sites, the thirteen préfectures and the major events. It is written first for business clients (industry, wine, local authorities, heritage, 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 Occitanie

Occitanie is the second-largest region of mainland France: thirteen départements, two metropolitan areas, more than 200 km of coastline, two mountain ranges and two borders. Here are the eight specifics that change how a job is prepared.

1. Toulouse, an aviation stronghold

The Toulouse-Blagnac control zone covers the west of the metropolitan area, home to the Airbus sites (Blagnac, Saint-Martin-du-Touch, Colomiers), with Toulouse-Francazal airfield to the south-west and the space and aeronautics research sites (CNES, ONERA) to the south-east. The industrial sites are not overflown; jobs are done for subcontractors and in the neighbouring business parks.

2. A coastline under several CTRs

Montpellier-Méditerranée, Nîmes-Garons, Perpignan-Rivesaltes, Béziers-Cap d'Agde, Carcassonne: a coastal job starts by reading the maximum height on Géoportail and, above it, obtaining an air navigation agreement (see our guide to drone missions inside an airport CTR).

3. Civil Security at Nîmes and the fire season

The Civil Security water-bomber base is at Nîmes-Garons. In summer, water bombers fly at very low level over fires across the region: a drone that gets in the way grounds the aerial firefighting. No job anywhere near a fire.

4. Large military camps

The Larzac camp (restricted zone LF-R 169 Larzac, created by a decree of 26 June 2014), the Caylus camp (Tarn-et-Garonne), and many regimental sites (Tarbes, Montauban, Carcassonne, Castelnaudary), plus the national commando training centre in the Pyrénées-Orientales.

5. Two major nuclear sites

The Golfech power plant (Tarn-et-Garonne) and the Marcoule nuclear site (Gard): around nuclear installations, the published prohibited zone typically extends 5 km in radius and up to 1,000 m height.

6. Two national parks and busy UNESCO sites

Cévennes and Pyrenees: core overflight below 1,000 m prohibited unless the park director authorises it. The Cité of Carcassonne, the Canal du Midi, the Pont du Gard, Albi's episcopal city, the Causses and Cévennes, Pyrénées - Mont Perdu: the manager's agreement comes on top of aviation rules.

7. Two borders, one of them outside the EU

Spain applies the EU regulation but with its own zones and authorities; Andorra is not an EU member. A flight that crosses the Pyrenean border changes legal regime.

8. Tramontane, mistral and terrain

The tramontane in Roussillon and the Aude, the mistral in the Gard, the autan wind in Toulouse, mountain winds: plan windows of several days rather than a fixed date. In the mountains, the 120 m limit is measured from the ground overflown.

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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