Your Essential Guide to Drone Operations

Navigating the skies: Your essential guide to drone operations with Altitude Angel 

Welcome to the world of drone operations.

Altitude Angel offers industry-leading tools for drone flight planning and approval management, helping drone users fly safely and responsibly.

While Altitude Angel facilitates flight approvals, it does not grant permissions. Approvals are issued by the owner or manager of an approval zone through plans submitted via Drone Assist, the Operator Portal, or via integrated third-party solutions.

This guide explains everything you need to know to plan, prepare, and fly your drone in UK airspace, including covering the basics to enable a confident flight and answering common questions like "Can I fly my drone here?", "How do I get a drone flight approval?" and "What do the map colours mean?"

Understanding where you can fly a drone

Some areas require approval before you can fly a drone. These include controlled airspace (usually, but not limited to around airports) or land where take-off and landing is only allowed with the landowner’s permission. These 'zones' appear as coloured areas on our flight planning tools.

Other areas may allow flights but include restrictions or important information you need to be aware of - such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) or similar sensitive locations.

Use the map in Drone Assist, Operator Portal or dronesafetymap.com to navigate to your intended flight area, making sure relevant airspace and ground hazard layers are switched on in the app or dashboard. Zoom in or out to get a clear view of any zones you need to be aware of.

Different types of ‘zone’ are shown on the maps as coloured areas (see below). If your proposed flight intersects a zone/s on the map, tap or click on the coloured area to bring up the explanatory legend. More details on that area, including any restrictions, can be viewed by clicking on the relevant zone on the legend.

Note: Some zones are for information only, so always read the summary to understand any restrictions or notices that apply. 

Drone flight approvals

Approvals are managed by Zone Managers. A Zone Manager is an organisation entrusted with overseeing and ensuring the proper management of controlled airspace or a designated airspace ‘zone’. Similarly, landowners manage the approval of land access ‘zones’. These Zone Managers use compatible digital solutions integrated with Altitude Angel’s planning tools to handle approval requests. 

Our flight planning tools use a UTM Readiness level to show how approval zones are managed.

UTM stands for Unified Traffic Management - a collection of solutions designed to safely integrate drones with other airspace users. It's all about keeping people safe.

• UTM Ready (3 green stars) – The zone is digitally managed, making it quick and easy to request approval and enabling seamless communication between drone operators and zone managers through our drone planning solutions.

• UTM Basic (2 orange stars) – Our solutions provide the information you need to manually contact the owner or manager of a zone for approval.

How to obtain approval in a UTM Ready Zone:  

If your planned flight intersects with an area that requires approval, you must use the "Create Flight Plan" feature within the Drone Assist mobile app, Operator Portal or a connected third-party planning solution. This process is the only way to digitally submit your approval requests to the relevant Zone Managers. 

• Approvals cannot be obtained by contacting Altitude Angel separately. The entire process is streamlined and managed digitally through a single digital platform. 

• When creating your flight plan, you will be guided through the process for zones requiring approval services. 

Drone planning tutorials

• Watch our range of Drone Assist tutorials on our website here

• Read our frequently asked questions here 

• Find our Operator Portal user guide here