In accordance with amendments to the Law on the use of airspace of the Republic of Kazakhstan and aviation operations Civil Aviation Committee of the MIID RoK together with Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan developed the Rules on the operation of UAV in the airspace of Republic of Kazakhstan

These rules apply to civil and experimental aviation, as well as users of the airspace of Kazakhstan and determine the procedure for the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Until now, the flights of any unmanned aerial vehicles were considered only from the point of view of the impact on the safety of aviation and provided protection of the airspace near airfields.

The development of these rules took into account the impact not only on flights of civil aircraft, but also threats to people and property, as well as the separation of flights for entertainment purposes from flights for performing any aerial work. It was introduced the categorization of unmanned aerial vehicles according to the maximum take-off weight, since the consequences of the aviation passage for UAVs with a larger mass will be more serious.

With the introduction of these rules, owners have not only register their UAV, but also obtain permission from Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan when planning a UAV flight over densely populated areas of cities or towns, as well as when planning aerial works using UAVs. The procedure and necessary documents for granting these permissions, if necessary, are described in the rules.

The “open” and “specific” categories of UAV operations in the airspace of the Republic of Kazakhstan are applied and based on proportional to the scope of application of UAV, characteristics of the area of operations, possible risks and taking into account the operational characteristics of the corresponding UAV.

To date, the procedure for registration of UAVs is determined by the Rules of State registration of civil aircraft of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the rights to them approved by the Order of the Minister for Investment and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 30, 2017 No. 409.

Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan is now working on the implementation of these legal changes to amend the processes of state registration of aircraft and rights to them in terms of accounting for UAVs to introduce a more convenient process of registration, making changes and de-registration.

On January 28, this year, a meeting of the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan with representatives of the aviation industry will be held to explain the new rules for the operation of UAVs. Further details will be published to the UAV community in the coming days. Following that meeting we will hold a series of online webinars for interested people in discussing implementation of the new legislation.