Applications in the specific category
Applications in the specfic category must generally be submitted to the state aviation authorities of the corresponding federal states. However, some states have transferred responsibility to the Federal Aviation Office (LBA). Information on the application process is presented below, divided by LBA and state aviation authority.
The following federal states have transferred responsibility to the LBA: Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The remaining federal states are handled by their own state aviation authorities.
Responsibility at the Federal Aviation Office
To successfully apply in the special category LBA provides a guide for operating permits. These guidelines should be taken into account when submitting an application, as they provide specific information on the process that will facilitate filling out the application. The application form (german only) is provided by the LBA and must be completed according to the guidelines. Additionally, a risk assessment must be carried out in the special category. For this purpose, a SORA (Specific Operational Risk Assessment for drones) or alternatively a PDRA (Predefined Risk Assessment) must be attached to the application.
It is recommended to take advantage of the LBA's offer and seek advice before submitting an application, so that any questions that arise can be clarified at an early stage.
An appointment will be scheduled after the following documents have been sent to the LBA by email (informally to UAS-specific@lba.de):
- The first page of the SORA or the respective PDRA
- A meaningful calculation of the size of the contingency volume and the ground risk buffer
- A *.kml file according to LBA standard, which represents flight geography, contingency volume, and ground risk buffer
The complete application can be sent to the LBA by email (UAS-specific@lba.de). The LBA strongly recommends using the provided wording aid to create the operation manual. This includes a structure and important details about the content of the manual. If operations are also planned abroad, it is recommended to write the manual directly in English. A wording aid is also provided for this purpose. The LBA informs directly about the current processing time of an application during the consultation and on its website.
Responsibility of the national aviation authorities
The respective state aviation authorities provide their own application form for their procedures in the specific category. The application form of the state aviation authorities can be found in the table below. In addition, a SORA (Specific Operational Risk Assessment for drones) or alternatively a PDRA (Pre-defined Risk Assessment) must be included with the application. In addition to the risk assessment, the state aviation authorities require further annexes, which can also be found in the table.The complete application can be submitted by email to the respective state aviation authority. The contact information can be found on the website of the respective state aviation authority.
Bundesland
Antragsformular Further documents Baden-Wurttemberg Service-Portal Baden-Württemberg Hamburg Hesse district Darmstadt Hesse district Kassel Lower Saxony (The correctness and up-to-dateness of documents cannot be guaranteed. Last updated: 08.07.2023)
Coordination with airspace users
For individual UAS-operations in the specific category (e.g. BVLOS), it is possible to coordinate these operations with other airspace users without obligation. The following contact options are available for this purpose:
For commercial helicopter operations, authorised heliports and helicopter landing sites at hospitals:
via the German Helicopter Association (DHV)
E-mail: drohnen@dhv-org.de
Telephone: +49800 148 0580
For air sports (gliding, paragliding and hang gliding, model flying, ultralight flying, ballooning, parachuting):
via the Luftsportverband Deutschland e.V. (LUVD)
E-mail: uas-support@luvd.aero
via the German Aero Club e.V. (DAeC)
E-mail: m.morr@daec.de