New regu­la­ti­ons for dro­nes are in force sin­ce 01 Janu­ary 2021. Dro­nes weig­hing more than 250 g or that have a came­ra need to be regis­tered at the Nor­we­gi­an air traf­fic aut­ho­ri­ty air traf­fic aut­ho­ri­ty (Luftf­art­stil­syn­set). This includes a web-based cour­se, a test and a fee. Ever­y­bo­dy who wants to use a dro­ne in Sval­bard (or main­land Nor­way, for that sake) will need to go through that, unless the dro­ne weighs less than 250 g and does not have a came­ra.

No flight zone around Lon­gye­ar­by­en and the most important rules for dro­nes in Sval­bard (Sys­sel­man­nen. Fol­low the link to get a high reso­lu­ti­on file).

The most important rules are given on the Sysselmannen’s web­site. The­se include among­st others:

• Regis­tra­ti­on, cour­se and test, see abo­ve.
• Gene­ral no flight zones within 5 km distance from the air­ports in Lon­gye­ar­by­en and Sveagru­va. This includes almost all of Lon­gye­ar­by­en!
• Gene­ral no flight zones within 20 km distance around Ny-Åle­sund (radio silence zone to avo­id dis­tur­ban­ce of sen­si­ti­ve sci­en­ti­fic instru­ments). This includes the who­le Kongsfjord.
• Dis­tur­ban­ce of wild­life and humans is gene­ral­ly for­bidden. Respect peo­p­les’ pri­va­cy (mini­mum distance from peo­p­le, buil­dings, boats etc.: 150 m).
• Maxi­mum flight alti­tu­de abo­ve ground: 120 m.
• The dro­ne must remain within eye­sight.
• Fly­ing in dark­ness is not allo­wed.

New rules for dro­nes are in force from 01 Janu­ary 2021.