Greece drone rules for travellers

Greece

A pilot registered in another EASA state flies on that registration; everyone else registers with HCAA for 20 euro, and a non-EU pilot must also take the EU training because a home qualification is not accepted. Checking the DAGR map before every flight is mandatory.

Open after a step for this profile · checked 8 October 2026

What decides it

Operator registration is compulsory for almost every drone. It is not required only where the drone weighs less than 250 g and carries no camera or other sensor able to detect personal data, or weighs less than 250 g, carries a sensor, but is a toy under Directive 2009/48/EC.confirmed on the cited page
The minimum age for a remote pilot in the open and specific categories is 16. There is no minimum age for flying a drone with a C0 mark in subcategory A1. An operator aged 16 to 18 files a parental consent declaration with the registration.confirmed on the cited page
All national and EU data privacy legislation must be observed. The national regulation refers penalties for personal-data breaches during a drone flight to Law 2472/1997 and requires HCAA to notify the Hellenic Data Protection Authority of related issues.confirmed on the cited page
Frequency use by a drone is governed by the National Frequency Table, Government Gazette 105/B/7/27-1-2016, and in particular Annex A.1 on short range devices of the EETT Regulation on the Terms of Use of Individual Radio Frequencies, Government Gazette 1713/B/26.6.2014. Radio equipment must comply with the European decisions harmonised in Greek legislation. On a breach, HCAA notifies EETT, which applies Articles 76 and 77 of Law 4070/2012.partly confirmed

Permits tied to a place or a time

These do not change the country's colour; they decide whether a particular flight is legal where and when you want it.

If DAGR shows a restriction over the intended area, flying there is forbidden. HASP also warns that the map may miss a restriction, show unclear geometry or carry a wrong start or end time, and advises checking AIP and NOTAM as well.
In yellow and magenta areas, such as airports and archaeological sites, flights may either be permitted under specific conditions or be entirely prohibited, and prior approval is required in most cases. An authorization request goes to HCAA before flying. Geographical zones apply to all categories.
The operator and the remote pilot must not fly over critical infrastructure such as ports, hospitals, archaeological sites or military and government installations without obtaining prior authorization from HCAA.
The Drone Flight Notification Form must be submitted at least five working days before the planned flight. Where the area is restricted and near a military airport, DAGR advises submitting five working days or more ahead because military coordination is needed.
A flight-plan submission must carry a brief description of the flight activity, the completed drone flight notification form, a screen shot of the flight geography area preferably at a 1000 m scale, and the written consent of the administrator of the areas or infrastructures over which the flight will take place, for example archaeological sites, stadiums or sensitive structures, wherever it is required. It is emailed to HCAA A2/D with a copy to HASP D4/B, and approval comes from HCAA first and HASP second.
A tourist may use HCAA's Authorization Request for UAS flights only if all four conditions hold: no Greek tax registration number, the flight is in a free-flying zone, the purpose is recreational, and the drone will fly higher than 160 feet above ground or more than 50 metres from the pilot in any direction.
HCAA will not authorize flight requests in restricted areas under the tourist authorization form. The form is not a route into an archaeological site, an airport zone, a port, a military area or any other restricted location.
A special permission from HCAA's Air Navigation Services Regulatory Division, together with the competent civil service entity such as the Ministry of Culture for archaeological sites or the Ministry of Defence for military facilities, is required to fly in prohibited, restricted, dangerous and reserved areas; at a height of more than 400 feet; less than 8 km or 5 nautical miles from a controlled aerodrome, airfield or heliport; above, close to or within military areas and vital infrastructure; within military or civil airports and heliports; above or near schools, hospitals, establishments and detention facilities; above or near common utility constructions; above or close to archaeological sites; and in environmental protection areas.
Flight is prohibited inside a geographical zone restricted or prohibited by NOTAM following a decision of the National Coordination Center for Operations and Crisis Management during aerial firefighting. The pilot must terminate the flight and land immediately on detecting aerial firefighting activity or on receiving a 112 emergency message about a wildfire in the area of operation, and must yield priority to manned aircraft.
Transport of hazardous materials by a drone is forbidden.

Before you fly, in order

An operator already registered in another EASA member state needs no additional Greek operator registration.
Operator registration is compulsory for almost every drone. It is not required only where the drone weighs less than 250 g and carries no camera or other sensor able to detect personal data, or weighs less than 250 g, carries a sensor, but is a toy under Directive 2009/48/EC.
The Drone Flight Notification Form must be submitted at least five working days before the planned flight. Where the area is restricted and near a military airport, DAGR advises submitting five working days or more ahead because military coordination is needed.
A flight-plan submission must carry a brief description of the flight activity, the completed drone flight notification form, a screen shot of the flight geography area preferably at a 1000 m scale, and the written consent of the administrator of the areas or infrastructures over which the flight will take place, for example archaeological sites, stadiums or sensitive structures, wherever it is required. It is emailed to HCAA A2/D with a copy to HASP D4/B, and approval comes from HCAA first and HASP second.
A tourist may use HCAA's Authorization Request for UAS flights only if all four conditions hold: no Greek tax registration number, the flight is in a free-flying zone, the purpose is recreational, and the drone will fly higher than 160 feet above ground or more than 50 metres from the pilot in any direction.
No HCAA authorization is needed to fly in a free-flying zone as long as the distance from the remote control unit to the drone does not exceed 50 metres, which the form equates with 160 feet, in every direction including downwards.
Conditions attached to a visitor authorization: only persons approved on the request may operate the drone; not above 400 feet above ground; not near airports and heliports; visual line of sight at all times; daylight hours only; not over people or populated areas including parking lots and streets; not in adverse weather; a pilot licence and an international insurance certificate are required; the pilot stays reachable by phone from at least 30 minutes before the flight; the drone lands before moving to another flying area; for citizens of EU countries national state registration is accepted while for non-EU citizens the registration policy will be considered; and all national and EU data privacy legislation must be observed.
After an HCAA approval the pilot must visit the nearest police station to the flight area and the local municipality services to inform them of the approved flight plan, showing identification such as a passport or driving licence.
A special permission from HCAA's Air Navigation Services Regulatory Division, together with the competent civil service entity such as the Ministry of Culture for archaeological sites or the Ministry of Defence for military facilities, is required to fly in prohibited, restricted, dangerous and reserved areas; at a height of more than 400 feet; less than 8 km or 5 nautical miles from a controlled aerodrome, airfield or heliport; above, close to or within military areas and vital infrastructure; within military or civil airports and heliports; above or near schools, hospitals, establishments and detention facilities; above or near common utility constructions; above or close to archaeological sites; and in environmental protection areas.
Open-category flight is limited to 120 m from the earth's surface. Above an obstacle taller than 120 m a drone may fly up to 15 m higher, only on the obstacle owner's explicit request and within 50 m of it horizontally.
A1 allows flying above a few uninvolved people and above buildings but not above crowds. A2 allows neither flight over uninvolved people nor above crowds, and keeps a minimum of 30 m from uninvolved persons or 5 m in low-speed mode. A3 keeps a minimum of 150 m from non-affected persons, buildings, industry and recreational areas and allows no uninvolved people within the range of the operation.
The remote pilot must keep the drone in visual line of sight. The national regulation sets a maximum of 500 m horizontally and 400 feet vertically from the pilot for a visual-line-of-sight flight.
Operation runs from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset under the national regulation; flying later needs a special HCAA permit and only in the specific or certified category. The visitor authorization route is daylight-only in its own terms.
Checking airspace restrictions on DAGR before any drone flight in Greece is mandatory. The check is repeated immediately before take-off, and every half hour if the activity lasts longer than 30 minutes.
If DAGR shows a restriction over the intended area, flying there is forbidden. HASP also warns that the map may miss a restriction, show unclear geometry or carry a wrong start or end time, and advises checking AIP and NOTAM as well.
In yellow and magenta areas, such as airports and archaeological sites, flights may either be permitted under specific conditions or be entirely prohibited, and prior approval is required in most cases. An authorization request goes to HCAA before flying. Geographical zones apply to all categories.
The operator and the remote pilot must not fly over critical infrastructure such as ports, hospitals, archaeological sites or military and government installations without obtaining prior authorization from HCAA.
HCAA will not authorize flight requests in restricted areas under the tourist authorization form. The form is not a route into an archaeological site, an airport zone, a port, a military area or any other restricted location.
Flight is prohibited inside a geographical zone restricted or prohibited by NOTAM following a decision of the National Coordination Center for Operations and Crisis Management during aerial firefighting. The pilot must terminate the flight and land immediately on detecting aerial firefighting activity or on receiving a 112 emergency message about a wildfire in the area of operation, and must yield priority to manned aircraft.
Only drones carrying a C0, C1 or C2 identification label may be flown in residential areas.
No Greek customs or import rule for a recreational drone is established by any page reached in either research pass or in verification. This is an absence of evidence, not a finding that nothing is required.
Frequency use by a drone is governed by the National Frequency Table, Government Gazette 105/B/7/27-1-2016, and in particular Annex A.1 on short range devices of the EETT Regulation on the Terms of Use of Individual Radio Frequencies, Government Gazette 1713/B/26.6.2014. Radio equipment must comply with the European decisions harmonised in Greek legislation. On a breach, HCAA notifies EETT, which applies Articles 76 and 77 of Law 4070/2012.
All national and EU data privacy legislation must be observed. The national regulation refers penalties for personal-data breaches during a drone flight to Law 2472/1997 and requires HCAA to notify the Hellenic Data Protection Authority of related issues.
The minimum age for a remote pilot in the open and specific categories is 16. There is no minimum age for flying a drone with a C0 mark in subcategory A1. An operator aged 16 to 18 files a parental consent declaration with the registration.
Spare lithium batteries in cabin baggage only: up to 100 Wh without approval, 100 to 160 Wh with airline approval and two spares, over 160 Wh not allowed (IATA passenger guidance; airlines may be stricter).

Spare lithium batteries in cabin baggage only: up to 100 Wh without approval, 100 to 160 Wh with airline approval and two spares, over 160 Wh not allowed (IATA passenger guidance; airlines may be stricter).

Field	What the pages say	Verdict	Sources
May a visiting pilot fly at all	Yes, after a registration or a notification.Visitors may fly. The discriminator is where the operator is registered: an EASA-state registration counts with no Greek procedure, everyone else registers first. On top of that, checking DAGR before every flight is mandatory for everyone, and yellow or magenta areas need an HCAA authorization or are prohibited outright.	confirmed on the cited page	S1 S22
EU or EEA registration recognised	YesHCAA states it as a pair: if you are not registered as a UAS operator in another EASA member state you must register in Greece, and if you are already registered in another EASA country no additional registration is required.	confirmed on the cited page	S1
UK registration recognised	NoNo fetched page names the United Kingdom. The discriminator on every page is EASA membership or EU residence, and the HCAA FAQ's duty on a non-EU resident to register in the first EU country of operation applies to a UK resident on the page's own terms. The visitor authorization form draws the same line: national state registration is accepted for citizens of EU countries, while for non-EU citizens the registration policy will be considered.	partly confirmed	S1 S2 S22 S6
US registration recognised	NoAn FAA registration does not substitute. The HCAA FAQ is explicit that a non-EU resident must register with the national aviation authority of the first EU country of intended operation, and for the specific category HCAA says the registration is made with HCAA itself.	confirmed on the cited page	S2 S22
Local registration	Required from 250 g. Cost: 20 EUR (e-paravolo code 8356). Non-residents: On HCAA's UAS OPERATOR REGISTRATION form for applicants with no Greek tax number: first name, middle name, surname, nationality, permanent address, mobile number, email, a declaration that the information is true, and an uploaded passport..Confirmed: the threshold and its sensor override (no registration only if the drone is under 250 g with no camera or other sensor able to detect personal data, or is under 250 g with a sensor but is a toy under Directive 2009/48/EC), the portal, the 20 euro paravolo for entry in the operators register, the non-resident document list, renewal after three years, and the GRC plus thirteen character operator number. Partial: no page states whether the 20 euro paravolo applies to the non-resident web-form route, or whether that route issues a GRC number. No official page states a processing time. S3 and S11 are cited because the portal and the form are reachable only from the sidebar those two pages carry; their own bodies are empty.	partly confirmed	S14 S19 S20 S21 S24 S3 S11
Remote ID	From 1 January 2024 a drone in the open category with a C1, C2, C3 or C4 class identification label must broadcast the operator number through Remote ID, and the operator number must be entered into the drone's software. The operator registration number must also be displayed on the drone, for example with a sticker. What is uploaded is the registration number plus three further characters that are kept secret.	confirmed on the cited page	S14 S7 S20
Insurance	Mandatory, at least Not stated for the 4 kg private trigger. The 2016 national regulation sets cover up to 150,000 EUR for damage to third-party property and up to 1,000,000 EUR for bodily injury, for A2 Open, Specific and Certified category and for all commercial use. · Private use at or above 4 kg take-off mass, and professional use at any weight.This is a Greek national rule, stated as such on HCAA's own FAQ, and it is much stricter than the EU 20 kg baseline the research brief reported. Operators in those two groups file the policy with their registration, covering every drone they own. The visitor authorization route requires an International Insurance Certificate whatever the weight. The cover figures come from the 2016 national regulation, which conflicts with the current pages in other respects.	confirmed on the cited page	S22 S20 S18
Altitude ceiling	120 mMeasured from the earth's surface, so the ceiling follows the terrain. Above an obstacle taller than 120 m a drone may fly up to 15 m above it, only on the obstacle owner's explicit request, and within 50 m of it horizontally. The 2016 national regulation and the HCAA visitor form both say 400 feet instead, about 122 m; see conflicts.	confirmed on the cited page	S2 S22
Distance from people	A1: flying above a few uninvolved people is allowed, above crowds is not, above buildings is allowed. A2: flying over uninvolved people and above crowds is not allowed, with a minimum 30 m from uninvolved persons or 5 m in low-speed mode; the EASA wording HCAA republishes adds the 1:1 rule, keeping a lateral distance not less than the flight height. A3: a minimum of 150 m from non-affected persons, buildings, industry and recreational areas, and no uninvolved people within the range of the operation.An assembly of people is a crowd dense enough that an individual cannot freely move away from an out-of-control drone; HCAA's examples include beaches and parks on a sunny day, which is the common case in Greece.	confirmed on the cited page	S14 S2
Line of sight	Visual line of sight is required in the open category. The 2016 national regulation adds a numeric limit for a VLOS flight: a maximum of 500 m horizontally and 400 feet vertically from the remote pilot. Camera-monitored flight is treated there as extended visual line of sight and is routed into the specific or certified category with a safety assessment plan.	confirmed on the cited page	S2 S18
Night	The national UAS Regulation limits visual-line-of-sight and extended-visual-line-of-sight operation to the period from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset. Flying later needs a special permit from HCAA Flight Standards Division and is available only for the specific and certified categories. The HCAA visitor authorization route is daylight-only in its own terms.No current HCAA web page restates the sunrise and sunset window, so a pilot reading only the English pages would not find it. It sits in the 2016 instrument that the live visitor form and the live DAGR disclaimer both still point to.	confirmed on the cited page	S18 S6
Class marks	C0 under 250 g flies in A1; C1 from 250 g to under 900 g in A1; C2 from 900 g to under 4 kg in A2; C3 and C4 from 4 kg to under 25 kg in A3. A drone above 249 g with no C identification label falls into subcategory A3. Only drones with a C0, C1 or C2 label may be flown in residential areas. An unlabelled drone under 250 g may still fly in A1.Competency follows the label: the A1/A3 certificate is recommended but not required for C0, required for C1, C3, C4 and for any unlabelled drone from 250 g to 25 kg, and A1/A3 plus the A2 certificate is mandatory for C2. A drone that is not privately built must carry a declaration of conformity to the CE class mark with the class label 0 to 4 affixed.	confirmed on the cited page	S14 S13
FPV	No Greek first-person-view or spotter rule is published on any fetched page. The visual-line-of-sight duty applies, and the national regulation treats flight monitored through the aircraft's camera as extended visual line of sight, which it moves out of the open category into the specific or certified category with a safety assessment plan.	partly confirmed	S18 S2
Commercial use	The EU framework HCAA publishes is risk-based and does not distinguish leisure from commercial activity, and operational risks in the open category are low enough that no operational authorisation is required before a flight. The 2016 national regulation does distinguish: commercial use of any UAS category needs a special licence from HCAA's Air Transport and International Agreements Division, with a fee, a criminal record extract, registration and an insurance certificate. The published operational-authorisation paravolo is 200 euro.Partial because the two instruments disagree. Insurance, by contrast, is unambiguous: HCAA's current FAQ requires third-party liability cover for every drone used professionally, at any weight.	partly confirmed	S12 S4 S18 S21

Field

What the pages say

Verdict

Sources

May a visiting pilot fly at all

Yes, after a registration or a notification.Visitors may fly. The discriminator is where the operator is registered: an EASA-state registration counts with no Greek procedure, everyone else registers first. On top of that, checking DAGR before every flight is mandatory for everyone, and yellow or magenta areas need an HCAA authorization or are prohibited outright.

confirmed on the cited page

S1 S22

EU or EEA registration recognised

YesHCAA states it as a pair: if you are not registered as a UAS operator in another EASA member state you must register in Greece, and if you are already registered in another EASA country no additional registration is required.

confirmed on the cited page

UK registration recognised

NoNo fetched page names the United Kingdom. The discriminator on every page is EASA membership or EU residence, and the HCAA FAQ's duty on a non-EU resident to register in the first EU country of operation applies to a UK resident on the page's own terms. The visitor authorization form draws the same line: national state registration is accepted for citizens of EU countries, while for non-EU citizens the registration policy will be considered.

partly confirmed

S1 S2 S22 S6

US registration recognised

NoAn FAA registration does not substitute. The HCAA FAQ is explicit that a non-EU resident must register with the national aviation authority of the first EU country of intended operation, and for the specific category HCAA says the registration is made with HCAA itself.

confirmed on the cited page

S2 S22

Local registration

Required from 250 g. Cost: 20 EUR (e-paravolo code 8356). Non-residents: On HCAA's UAS OPERATOR REGISTRATION form for applicants with no Greek tax number: first name, middle name, surname, nationality, permanent address, mobile number, email, a declaration that the information is true, and an uploaded passport..Confirmed: the threshold and its sensor override (no registration only if the drone is under 250 g with no camera or other sensor able to detect personal data, or is under 250 g with a sensor but is a toy under Directive 2009/48/EC), the portal, the 20 euro paravolo for entry in the operators register, the non-resident document list, renewal after three years, and the GRC plus thirteen character operator number. Partial: no page states whether the 20 euro paravolo applies to the non-resident web-form route, or whether that route issues a GRC number. No official page states a processing time. S3 and S11 are cited because the portal and the form are reachable only from the sidebar those two pages carry; their own bodies are empty.

partly confirmed

S14 S19 S20 S21 S24 S3 S11

Remote ID

From 1 January 2024 a drone in the open category with a C1, C2, C3 or C4 class identification label must broadcast the operator number through Remote ID, and the operator number must be entered into the drone's software. The operator registration number must also be displayed on the drone, for example with a sticker. What is uploaded is the registration number plus three further characters that are kept secret.

confirmed on the cited page

S14 S7 S20

Insurance

Mandatory, at least Not stated for the 4 kg private trigger. The 2016 national regulation sets cover up to 150,000 EUR for damage to third-party property and up to 1,000,000 EUR for bodily injury, for A2 Open, Specific and Certified category and for all commercial use. · Private use at or above 4 kg take-off mass, and professional use at any weight.This is a Greek national rule, stated as such on HCAA's own FAQ, and it is much stricter than the EU 20 kg baseline the research brief reported. Operators in those two groups file the policy with their registration, covering every drone they own. The visitor authorization route requires an International Insurance Certificate whatever the weight. The cover figures come from the 2016 national regulation, which conflicts with the current pages in other respects.

confirmed on the cited page

S22 S20 S18

Altitude ceiling

120 mMeasured from the earth's surface, so the ceiling follows the terrain. Above an obstacle taller than 120 m a drone may fly up to 15 m above it, only on the obstacle owner's explicit request, and within 50 m of it horizontally. The 2016 national regulation and the HCAA visitor form both say 400 feet instead, about 122 m; see conflicts.

confirmed on the cited page

S2 S22

Distance from people

A1: flying above a few uninvolved people is allowed, above crowds is not, above buildings is allowed. A2: flying over uninvolved people and above crowds is not allowed, with a minimum 30 m from uninvolved persons or 5 m in low-speed mode; the EASA wording HCAA republishes adds the 1:1 rule, keeping a lateral distance not less than the flight height. A3: a minimum of 150 m from non-affected persons, buildings, industry and recreational areas, and no uninvolved people within the range of the operation.An assembly of people is a crowd dense enough that an individual cannot freely move away from an out-of-control drone; HCAA's examples include beaches and parks on a sunny day, which is the common case in Greece.

confirmed on the cited page

S14 S2

Line of sight

Visual line of sight is required in the open category. The 2016 national regulation adds a numeric limit for a VLOS flight: a maximum of 500 m horizontally and 400 feet vertically from the remote pilot. Camera-monitored flight is treated there as extended visual line of sight and is routed into the specific or certified category with a safety assessment plan.

confirmed on the cited page

S2 S18

Night

The national UAS Regulation limits visual-line-of-sight and extended-visual-line-of-sight operation to the period from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset. Flying later needs a special permit from HCAA Flight Standards Division and is available only for the specific and certified categories. The HCAA visitor authorization route is daylight-only in its own terms.No current HCAA web page restates the sunrise and sunset window, so a pilot reading only the English pages would not find it. It sits in the 2016 instrument that the live visitor form and the live DAGR disclaimer both still point to.

confirmed on the cited page

S18 S6

Class marks

C0 under 250 g flies in A1; C1 from 250 g to under 900 g in A1; C2 from 900 g to under 4 kg in A2; C3 and C4 from 4 kg to under 25 kg in A3. A drone above 249 g with no C identification label falls into subcategory A3. Only drones with a C0, C1 or C2 label may be flown in residential areas. An unlabelled drone under 250 g may still fly in A1.Competency follows the label: the A1/A3 certificate is recommended but not required for C0, required for C1, C3, C4 and for any unlabelled drone from 250 g to 25 kg, and A1/A3 plus the A2 certificate is mandatory for C2. A drone that is not privately built must carry a declaration of conformity to the CE class mark with the class label 0 to 4 affixed.

confirmed on the cited page

S14 S13

FPV

No Greek first-person-view or spotter rule is published on any fetched page. The visual-line-of-sight duty applies, and the national regulation treats flight monitored through the aircraft's camera as extended visual line of sight, which it moves out of the open category into the specific or certified category with a safety assessment plan.

partly confirmed

S18 S2

Commercial use

The EU framework HCAA publishes is risk-based and does not distinguish leisure from commercial activity, and operational risks in the open category are low enough that no operational authorisation is required before a flight. The 2016 national regulation does distinguish: commercial use of any UAS category needs a special licence from HCAA's Air Transport and International Agreements Division, with a fee, a criminal record extract, registration and an insurance certificate. The published operational-authorisation paravolo is 200 euro.Partial because the two instruments disagree. Insurance, by contrast, is unambiguous: HCAA's current FAQ requires third-party liability cover for every drone used professionally, at any weight.

partly confirmed

S12 S4 S18 S21

Where the no-fly zones are published

The authority's own map is the one that counts on the day; an app is a convenience, not a source.

Two official figures. HCAA and DAGR work zone by zone: airports are yellow or magenta, and a request near a civil or military airport goes to HCAA at least five working days ahead, then to HASP and the Hellenic Air Force. The 2016 national regulation instead states a flat prohibition within the Aerodrome Traffic Zone and in any case less than 8 km from the airport perimeter, and elsewhere less than 8 km or 5 nautical miles from a controlled aerodrome, airfield or heliport.

Offence	Range	Sources
Non-compliance by the operator with the registration and operating duties	Fines and other administrative sanctions under Article 153 of the Greek Code of Air Law. No amount is published on any official page reached.	S20 S18
Breach of the operating, security or air-traffic rules, or refusal of an HCAA inspection of permits, licences and equipment	The offender is summoned to a hearing, then the Article 153(1) fine is imposed scaled to the seriousness of the infringement. For serious or repeat violations the permit or certificate may be suspended or withdrawn. Administrative penalties do not relieve the offender of criminal responsibility, and an appeal to the Administrative Court within ten days does not suspend collection.	S18
Flying inside a wildfire geographical restriction	An administrative fine under the national regulatory framework, criminal prosecution for obstructing an assigned public service, suspension or revocation of the operational declaration or remote pilot certificate, and seizure and confiscation of the drone. No amount is published.	S25
Breach of the terms of use of radio frequencies	HCAA notifies EETT, which applies Articles 76 and 77 of Law 4070/2012. No amount is published.	S18
Processing personal data unlawfully during a drone flight	Penalties under Law 2472/1997 on the protection of personal data. No amount is published.	S18

Offence

Range

Sources

Non-compliance by the operator with the registration and operating duties

Fines and other administrative sanctions under Article 153 of the Greek Code of Air Law. No amount is published on any official page reached.

S20 S18

Breach of the operating, security or air-traffic rules, or refusal of an HCAA inspection of permits, licences and equipment

The offender is summoned to a hearing, then the Article 153(1) fine is imposed scaled to the seriousness of the infringement. For serious or repeat violations the permit or certificate may be suspended or withdrawn. Administrative penalties do not relieve the offender of criminal responsibility, and an appeal to the Administrative Court within ten days does not suspend collection.

S18

Flying inside a wildfire geographical restriction

An administrative fine under the national regulatory framework, criminal prosecution for obstructing an assigned public service, suspension or revocation of the operational declaration or remote pilot certificate, and seizure and confiscation of the drone. No amount is published.

S25

Breach of the terms of use of radio frequencies

HCAA notifies EETT, which applies Articles 76 and 77 of Law 4070/2012. No amount is published.

S18

Processing personal data unlawfully during a drone flight

Penalties under Law 2472/1997 on the protection of personal data. No amount is published.

S18

What we could not confirm

Printed rather than hidden. A brief that answers everything has usually guessed somewhere, and a gap here is a real gap in the official pages or a page we could not reach.

Sources that disagree

Which instrument governs: the 2016 Greek national UAS Regulation or the EU open category

HCAA's current pages describe Regulation (EU) 2019/947 as applicable since 31 December 2020, with the open, specific and certified categories, C0 to C4 class labels, a 120 m ceiling, registration from 250 g or any sensor-carrying drone, a minimum age of 16, and no prior authorisation in the open category.

The national UAS Regulation, Government Gazette B/3152/30.9.2016 and in force from 1 January 2017, sets a 400-foot ceiling, categories CAT A0 under 1 kg, A1 1 to 4 kg and A2 4 to 25 kg, registration keyed to a remote-control range over 50 m, a flight plan for every flight beyond 50 m from the pilot, a flat prohibition within 8 km of an aerodrome, an age of 18 for the licensed categories and possible recognition of certificates from other ICAO states. It is published in English on DAGR, is called the official UAS Regulation document by the live visitor form, and is named in DAGR's live disclaimer as the requirement set the map serves.

Nothing on any fetched page says which prevails or repeals the other. The visitor authorization form sits on the national-regulation side: its 160 feet and 50 m trigger, its 400-foot ceiling and its 100 to 400 FT altitude field are that instrument's numbers. A pilot reading only the HCAA English pages would not know the form exists; a pilot reading only the form would think an authorization is needed for almost any real flight. The engine carries the EU figures and keeps the national ones in the rule statements.

Maximum altitude in the open category

HCAA's FAQ: the maximum flight height is generally 120 m from the earth's surface.

The 2016 national regulation and the HCAA visitor authorization form: 400 feet above ground or mean sea level, about 122 m, and the form's altitude field is labelled 100-400FT AGL.

The gap is small in metres and large in provenance. 120 m is the figure the authority publishes to the public today; 400 feet is the figure on the form a tourist is told to sign.

How far an A3 operation must stay from things

The DAGR sub-categories sheet: a minimum distance of 150 metres from non-affected persons, buildings, industry and recreational areas.

The EASA FAQ republished by HCAA: at least 150 m from residential, commercial or industrial areas, plus no uninvolved people within the range of the operation.

Same number, different scope. The DAGR wording puts buildings and persons inside the 150 m radius; the EASA wording puts areas inside it and handles persons with a separate test.

The authorization lead time, on a single page

HCAA's summary table: submit a request to the HCAA at least 5 days in advance.

The same page's approval-process list: submit the Drone Flight Notification Form at least 5 working days before your planned flight. DAGR adds that a restricted area near a military airport needs 5 working days or more.

Five days and five working days are not the same period, and both sit on the same HCAA page. Plan on the longer one.

Where a drone flight request is sent, and which DAGR host is current

The visitor authorization form routes applications to info.dagr@hcaa.gr, professional requests to public.relations1@mindigital.gr, and links the DAGR application at dagr.hcaa.gr.

The flight-plan procedure routes submissions to UAS@hcaa.gov.gr with a copy to info.dagr@hasp.gov.gr and links dagr.hasp.gov.gr. HCAA's own page gives a separate general contact address.

dagr.hcaa.gr still resolves but returns HTTP 403 to every client tried; dagr.hasp.gov.gr is the host that serves the map and the documents. The form appears to predate the move to HASP's domain.

Greece

Your answer

What decides it

Permits tied to a place or a time

Before you fly, in order

How a visitor gets legal

Classify the drone

EASA-registered visitors: carry the home registration

UK, US and other non-EU visitors: register with HCAA

Non-EU visitors: take the EU training

Hold third-party liability insurance where it is required

Check DAGR before every flight

Outside yellow and magenta zones, no prior authorisation

Inside a yellow or magenta zone, file a flight notification

The tourist route: HCAA Authorization Request for UAS flights

After an approval, notify the police and the municipality

Archaeological sites and environmental protection areas

The numbers

Every rule we could confirm

Registration

Remote ID

Insurance

Minimum age

Permits

Airspace zones

Towns and cities

Altitude

Distance from people

Line of sight

Night

Hazardous materials

Commercial use

Privacy

Radio conformity

Customs and import

Parks and protected areas

Archaeological sites and monuments (national rule)

Ticketed sites of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades (Santorini, Milos, Delos, Naxos, Paros, Amorgos and others)

Environmental protection areas

Natura 2000, Samaria Gorge National Park, Mount Olympus National Park

Wildfire restriction zones (seasonal, nationwide)

Where the no-fly zones are published

Customs and the border

On the ground

Where reports cluster

Dated reports

What the law says it costs

What we could not confirm

Sources that disagree

What changed, and when

Checked 8 October 2026. Newer than that? Look here:

Official pages

Where pilots report

Sources