C-DRONE GUIDE · 20 APRIL 2026
Flying a drone in the city: what is really allowed in French built-up areas
"Am I allowed to fly my drone in town?" is the question French remote pilots hear most — and the one that generates the most wrong answers, all the more since the rule changed on 1 January 2026. For leisure, public space in built-up areas remains off-limits to the open category; for professionals, it has opened up under strict conditions. This guide reviews who may fly where.
The basic rule: leisure banned over public space, professionals allowed since 2026
The French airspace order of 3 December 2020 sets the national rule: in built-up areas, leisure open-category flights are prohibited over public space. "Built-up area" is understood as in the highway code — the space between a town's entry and exit signs — and therefore includes villages. Public space covers streets, pavements, squares, municipal parks, landscaped riverbanks: in other words, most of a city's surface. This ban applies whatever the drone's weight, including a 249 g aircraft, and whatever the flight height.
Major change since 1 January 2026: the order of 23 December 2025 allows open-category flights over public space in built-up areas for professional activities — under two strict conditions: no overflight of people, and daytime only. For leisure, the ban remains total: even in a town with no CTR and no P zone on the Géoportail map, flying over the street stays prohibited. Leisure sub-250 g drones are not exempt: their only privilege in town is being able to fly over private space with permission, under the conditions detailed below.
The private garden exception: flying at home in town
The DGAC allows flight in built-up areas above private space (garden, courtyard, company grounds) with the occupant's consent, provided strict precautions are observed: height and speed limited and adapted to the immediate surroundings — the usual recommendation is to stay at a moderate height, around fifty metres at most where the environment allows —, no overhang above public space or neighbouring properties, and compliance with local Géoportail restrictions (a 0 m CTR also applies above your lawn). The drone must remain within sight and people present must be informed.
In practice, this exception covers most residential uses: checking your roof after a storm, photographing your house for a sale, testing a drone received at Christmas. It does not allow following the street "just for one shot", nor flying over the neighbour's garden without their consent. For an urban real-estate shoot with wide views taking in the streets, going through a professional remains unavoidable — in the open category (available to pros over public space since 1 January 2026) or in the specific category depending on the mission: that is precisely the kind of flight declared operators carry out legally every day.
The professional framework: STS-01 and préfecture notification
Since 1 January 2026, professionals have two frameworks in town. For light missions, open-category flight over public space is now possible, with no overflight of people and daytime only. For more demanding operations (immediate proximity to bystanders, night, heavy drone), the specific category remains the route, overwhelmingly under the European standard scenario STS-01: visual line of sight, 120 m maximum height, class C5 drone (or a compliant modified aircraft), a marked ground-controlled area keeping bystanders away, a valid operational declaration on AlphaTango, an operations manual, STS-trained remote pilots and suitable insurance. In both cases, every flight over a populated area requires a prior notification to the préfecture (cerfa form 15476*04), at least 10 working days before the operation — a deadline extended from 5 to 10 days by the order of 23 December 2025.
In the field, preparing a professional urban flight includes the safety perimeter (cones, barrier tape, ground crew), informing residents where appropriate, coordinating with the municipal police, and often a municipal order if take-off happens from public land. The budget reflects this: an urban shoot is generally billed 20 to 40% more than an equivalent rural mission, the difference covering paperwork, extra staff and class C5 equipment.
Paris and the strictest special cases
Paris is a case apart: the whole city within the ring road is covered by prohibited zone P-23, which bans all drone flight, leisure and professional alike, without specific authorisation. Jobs there require an authorisation from the préfecture de police, processed with the DSAC and the city, on a file submitted several weeks in advance — it is only granted for serious purposes (audiovisual production, technical inspection) and often in imposed time slots, early in the morning. The "drone" footage of Paris seen everywhere comes either from these exceptional authorisations or from helicopters.
Other urban environments stack up constraints: surroundings of power plants and Seveso sites, perimeters of courthouses and prisons, hospital helipads in city centres (Marseille, Lille, Grenoble), large gatherings where temporary no-fly zones are created by order. Conversely, some metropolitan areas make life easier for declared operators by publishing standard procedures — worth checking with the departmental préfecture before planning a multi-city shooting campaign.
In short: who may fly where in town
To find your way around, here is a summary of the most common urban situations:
- Individual, any drone, street or public park: prohibited, with no weight exception.
- Individual, own garden: allowed with care (moderate height, no overhang, Géoportail restrictions observed).
- Professional, open category, public space: allowed since 1 January 2026, no overflight of people and daytime only, after préfecture notification (10 working days).
- Declared STS-01 professional, public space: allowed after préfecture notification (10 working days) and a safety perimeter.
- Professional, central Paris or any P zone: only with a specific authorisation from the préfecture de police.
- Anyone, over an assembly of people: prohibited in all everyday categories.
If you are an individual with an urban need — selling a property, documenting works — the simplest, fastest and often cheapest route remains entrusting the flight to a declared operator: the préfecture notification is their weekly routine, and you get usable footage without taking on any legal risk.