Restrictions for drones and civilian flights during Nordic Response
Exercise Nordic Response 2024 increases military allied traffic in Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish airspace. This leads to restrictions for civilian air traffic – including drones.
Restrictions for unmanned aerial vehicles and civilian flights apply to parts of Nord-Troms and Finnmark counties in northern Norway. The restrictions are enforced to ensure flight safety during the exercise. There will be around 110 aircraft and helicopters in operation, and to avoid potential dangerous situations restrictions have been imposed.
Maps of the areas where restrictions apply can be found in AIP AIRAC SUP 02/24. Note that use of all types of civilian drones in these areas must be approved by the Norwegian Joint Air Operations Centre (JAOC) at least 72 hours before the flight starts. Also note that the flight must have a specific societal benefit in order to be approved.
There are exceptions to the restrictions for police, ambulances, fire, or search and rescue missions, in addition to other prioritized flights.
The restrictions for civilian flights apply to parts of Northern Troms and Finnmark counties and will be in effect from 4 to 15 March 2024.
Note that there are also restrictions for Finnish and Swedish airspace for the same reason. See menu below.
The Norwegian Armed Forces will report all violations of restrictions in Norwegian airspace to the police without prompting.
Any questions about the Norwegian airspace can be sent to the Norwegian Joint Air Operations Centre (JAOC) at jaoc@mil.no
Useful information
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The restrictions for civil aviation apply in parts of North Troms and Finnmark, and will be in effect from 4 to 15 March 2024. During this period, civil flying and drone flying are not allowed in the areas described below:
There are also restrictions in Finnish and Swedish airspace for the same reason. You can read more about it here:
For Swedish and Finnish airspace, exemptions for civil aviation, including drones, must be granted in accordance with the countries' own procedures.
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How to apply for an exemption:
- Send an application to the Norwegian Armed Forces via e-mail to jaoc@mil.no. This application must be sent at least 72 hours before the planned flight.
- The application must include the following:
- Time period: planned start and end of the flight, time in UTC.
- Flight route: description of the planned route, given in coordinates with LAT/LONG in the format DDMMSS. You can also include known geographical names if relevant to the application.
- Vertical restrictions: lower and higher altitude given in feet
- A sketch of the planned flight area or route.
- Type of aircraft: for example, airplane, helicopter, or UAS (drones)
- Registration number and/or callsign, if available.
- Description of the activity and the reason for the flight.
- Contact info: person/company, operator, phone number we can reach you at.
We cannot guarantee that the application will be approved. The flight must have a certain societal benefit, and there must not be any other planned military activity at the same time in the same area. It may be that an officer from the Norwegian Armed Forces will be present during the flight.
Regarding Swedish and Finnish airspace, exemptions for civil aviation, including drones, must be granted in accordance with the countries' own procedures.
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All flying in the restricted areas is prohibited when the restricted areas are indicated by NOTAMs as activated – unless specific permission is granted by the Norwegian Armed Forces or Civil Aviation Authority Norway.
The prohibition applies to all aviation including unmanned aerial vehicles and model aircraft – unless other information is provided by NOTAMs.
Naturally, the restrictions do not apply to flights related to military, police, ambulance, search and rescue missions, or exercises for such missions.
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The Civil Aviation Authority Norway may impose a fine for violations under the Norwegian Aviation Act § 13a-5 no. 6, for violating airspace restrictions in the current regulation for Nordic Response.