Drone owners to be charged annual fee under new proposals

[Arthur]

Drone owners to be charged annual fee under new proposals

 

Every drone and model aircraft owner in the UK could be charged £16.50 a year under plans by the aviation regulator.

 

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is consulting on introducing a licence fee to cover the costs of operating the new drone registration scheme.

 

From November, drone owners would have to register their details on a database and drone flyers would complete a free online safety test.

 

But a drone membership organisation claimed the charge was "far too high".

 

The plans would affect anyone who owns a drone that weighs more than 250 grams (8oz).

 

Only those aged 18 would be able to register as the official drone owner. There would be no fee for "remote pilots" - those who fly the drones but are not registered owners.

 

The CAA has launched a consultation on the proposals, with a final decision expected by the regulator in July.

 

The number of drone users in the UK is unknown, but the CAA estimates 170,000 people will register.

[FN-GM]

They can pay for a £1,200 drone but the £16.50 registration fee is too high?

[houlta]

The cost is fine, the weight is the problem, there's 'toys' that fall within that light a range. Over 500g would be best or they'll just be inundated.

They should be licensing them by range. The DJI Mavic 2 can go for 4 or 5 miles for example, it weighs almost a kilo though, and costs as much is £'s per gram, thats hardly a toy.

[mikeprice]

Can't relly see how they can enforce it - there are loads of the things around - and no record of them

 

and if someone buys one from the WWW - from e.g. China - then how will they know if the customs declaration is dodgy??