🇧🇦 Country guide · updated 2026-09
Drone laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina is the opposite of most countries on this list.
At a glance
- Registration
- 5 KM administrative tax
- Registration portal
- BHDCA drone pages
- Maximum height
- 30 m above ground for non-commercial flying — the single most restrictive figure on this site, and four times lower than the EU limit. Commercial operations may go to 120 m, and aerial work higher with airspace approval.
- Insurance
- Required for all flights
Bosnia and Herzegovina is the opposite of most countries on this list. There is almost no paperwork for a visiting hobbyist — no registration, no exam, no permit, no fee — and yet very few of the photographs people travel here for can be taken legally. Non-commercial flying is capped at 30 m above the ground, four times lower than the European limit, with 30 m of separation from anything and 50 m from a crowd. The ceiling, not the bureaucracy, is the constraint.
Country-specific decision path
Before you choose a launch point in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Confirm your operator paperwork Registration required — 5 KM administrative tax. Outside the EU/EEA system. You need a separate registration here. Open BHDCA drone pages
- Check the exact route on the official map BHANSA AIP is the national starting point; read every condition covering the complete route, not only the launch pin. Open BHANSA AIP
- Apply the local layer A visitor flying recreationally needs nothing: the rules for foreign non-commercial operators require only that the flight limits are met, and the register is closed to non-residents anyway. Review the Bosnia and Herzegovina zone and nature checks
Registration in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia has not adopted the EU drone regulations. Its Rulebook, published in the Official Gazette 51/20 and applied since 25 September 2020, splits operations by purpose rather than risk: non-commercial, commercial, and aerial work. A1 to A4 are mass bands, not EU subcategories, and there are no class marks at all. The rulebook covers 0.249 kg to 25 kg, so anything lighter falls outside it. The parent aviation law dates from 2009 and does not cover drones.
Registration is only open to owners resident or registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it is a paper form submitted in person with an ID copy, a residence certificate, proof of ownership and an insurance policy. A visiting hobbyist cannot register and does not need to — the rules for foreign non-commercial operators require only compliance with the flight limits.
What it costs: 5 KM administrative tax — Renew every 3 years.
Outside the EU/EEA system. You need a separate registration here.
How to register
- If you are visiting to fly recreationally, none of this applies — read the flight rules instead
- Residents complete the registration form and pay the 5 KM tax
- Attach an ID copy, a residence certificate, proof of ownership and the insurance policy
- Submit in person to the Directorate, which issues a certificate within 30 days
- Renew every three years or the entry is deleted
- Commercial and aerial work operators apply separately to dron@bhdca.gov.ba first
Bosnia registers aircraft rather than operators, and only from residents: the owner must be resident or registered in the country, apply in person on paper, and pay a 5 KM tax, renewing every three years. A visitor cannot register and does not have to. The rules for foreign operators require a non-commercial flyer to meet the flight limits and nothing else, while commercial and aerial work need prior approval.
Flight rules
- Maximum height
- 30 m above ground for non-commercial flying — the single most restrictive figure on this site, and four times lower than the EU limit. Commercial operations may go to 120 m, and aerial work higher with airspace approval.
- Line of sight
- Visual line of sight throughout. Commercial operations may go beyond it to a maximum of 1,000 m horizontally.
- Weight classes
- The rulebook covers 0.249 kg to 25 kg. A1 to A4 are mass bands within that — up to 1 kg, 2 kg, 5 kg and 25 kg — and they do not change the operating limits. Anything at or below 0.248 kg is outside the rules altogether.
- Night flying
- Non-commercial flying is daylight only, with no night provision at all. Commercial operations may fly at night with light signalling, but only in sight, below 30 m and near the landing point.
- Weather
- No numeric limits published.
There are no class marks in Bosnia. The rulebook predates the EU class-marking regime and never adopted it, so a C-marked drone gets no benefit and an unmarked one no penalty. What the scheme uses instead is A1 to A4 mass bands within a 0.249 to 25 kg range — and those bands do not change what you may do. The operating limits turn on the purpose of the flight: non-commercial, commercial, or aerial work.
Where you may not fly
There is no drone map for Bosnia and the aeronautical publication carries no drone zones, so restrictions are textual rather than mapped. Non-commercial flight is barred from aerodrome and control zones outright, from within 500 m of military sites, industrial zones, embassies and state institutions, and from the 300 m strip inside the state border. Airspace clearance takes 7 or 20 days.
Airports and controlled airspace
Non-commercial flight is prohibited inside an aerodrome zone or control zone outright. Commercial flight within 1.5 km of an aerodrome needs an airspace reservation through air traffic control or the airspace management cell.
Towns and cities
There is no Sarajevo-specific zone, but a permanently active prohibited area at Istočna Ilidža, the EUFOR restricted area at Camp Butmir, the airport control zone, the 500 m rule around embassies and the separation distances together leave central Sarajevo effectively closed to legal recreational flying.
Protected nature
No drone policy is published by Una or Sutjeska national parks, or for the Old Bridge in Mostar, Baščaršija or Kravice. Both parks hug international borders, which brings the 300 m border rule into play. Landmine contamination is not a drone rule but constrains where you can safely walk to launch.
Government and military sites
Flying is prohibited over military objects and zones and within 500 m of them, waivable only by Ministry of Defence consent, and within 300 m of the state border measured inward, waivable only by the Border Police. A 500 m buffer also covers industrial zones, embassies and state institutions.
Other restrictions in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- There is no official drone map — the aeronautical publication carries no drone zones at all
- Airspace clearance from the navigation agency needs 7 days for permanent zones and 20 for temporary ones
- Entity and cantonal police act on drones under public order powers, as at Međugorje
Insurance
The rulebook requires cover for third-party ground damage in Bosnian territory and states no weight threshold, while the Directorate's English guidance says the non-commercial requirement starts above 1 kg — an unresolved conflict in its own materials. No minimum sum is published. Commercial operations need cover at any weight.
Penalties
No fine amounts exist to publish, and that is a finding rather than a gap in our searching. The rulebook has no penalty chapter, the 2009 aviation law does not cover drones, and the Directorate said in December 2025 that a new draft law is being written to define the offence provisions. Any figure quoted elsewhere is unsourced.
Whatever the amount, the pattern across Europe is the same: paperwork failures are handled administratively, while flying near aircraft, over crowds, or inside a protected zone is what turns a case into a prosecution.
Visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina with a drone
A visitor flying recreationally needs nothing: the rules for foreign non-commercial operators require only that the flight limits are met, and the register is closed to non-residents anyway. The competency exam is not being administered — the Directorate suspended it for lack of resources and says operators are not yet obliged to sit it. What you cannot escape is the 30 m ceiling and the separation distances. Drones of 248 g or less are outside the rulebook altogether.
Commercial work
Commercial work and aerial work both need prior approval from the Directorate, with an approved operations manual for aerial work. The rulebook says the fee is set in the Directorate's schedule of charges, but that schedule predates the drone rules by five years and contains no drone entry, so no fee is actually published. Start at dron@bhdca.gov.ba and budget weeks, not days.
Location planning
These are well-known photographic subjects to research, not recommended launch points or proof that a flight is allowed. Check the exact route against official airspace, nature, land-manager and people restrictions.
- Stari Most, Mostar — 30 m limits make this a commercial-approval job in practice
- Počitelj on the Neretva — among the more realistically flyable of the headline sites
- Blagaj Tekija at the Buna spring
- Kravice waterfalls — no published rule, but crowded in season
- Pliva waterfall, Jajce
- Lukomir and the Bjelašnica highlands — open terrain, but check the mine map
Apps and official maps
- BHANSA aeronautical publication - the only authoritative airspace source; there is no drone map
- BH Mine Suspected Areas - the mine action centre's free app, worth having before rural flying
Practical tips
- The ceiling for recreational flying is 30 m, not 120 m — this catches everyone
- A drone of 248 g or less falls outside the rulebook entirely
- A visiting hobbyist needs no registration, no exam and no permit
- The competency exam is suspended, so nobody is currently required to sit it
- Stay 300 m clear of the state border unless the Border Police have consented
Questions about flying in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Do I need to register to fly a drone in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Registration required — 5 KM administrative tax. Outside the EU/EEA system. You need a separate registration here.
How high can I fly in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
30 m above ground for non-commercial flying — the single most restrictive figure on this site, and four times lower than the EU limit. Commercial operations may go to 120 m, and aerial work higher with airspace approval.
Do I need drone insurance in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
The rulebook requires cover for third-party ground damage in Bosnian territory and states no weight threshold, while the Directorate's English guidance says the non-commercial requirement starts above 1 kg — an unresolved conflict in its own materials. No minimum sum is published. Commercial operations need cover at any weight.
Can I fly a drone at night in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Non-commercial flying is daylight only, with no night provision at all. Commercial operations may fly at night with light signalling, but only in sight, below 30 m and near the landing point.
What are the penalties for breaking drone rules in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
No fine amounts exist to publish, and that is a finding rather than a gap in our searching. The rulebook has no penalty chapter, the 2009 aviation law does not cover drones, and the Directorate said in December 2025 that a new draft law is being written to define the offence provisions. Any figure quoted elsewhere is unsourced.
Official sources
Primary sources used for this guide, checked September 2026. Open the live national source again before flying; geographical zones and temporary restrictions can change between reviews.
- National authority BHDCA (Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation) — official drone information
- Official zones and map BHANSA AIP — BHANSA
Rules change, and national authorities publish the current position. Before you fly, check BHDCA (Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation) — it is linked at the top of this page too.