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You want to fly a drone in Botswana yourself? Botswana might be a little less known as other destinations in Africa, the nature and wildlife wealth are as spectacular as more renowned and publicised countries like Tanzania and Namibia.
Botswana is inhabited by only two million people. Therefore, the wild fauna, benefited by a scarce human presence and a sustainable tourism development, rampant through its deserts, marshlands and salt flats. A happy rarity that the sagacious traveller who loves nature in its purest state and the great spaces in freedom should not let go.
(1) The RPA shall not be flown unless the Operator is present.
(2) The Operator will at all times maintain visual line-of-sight (VLOS) with the RPA or beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) under special approval This will be accomplished unaided by any device other than corrective lenses.
(3) RPA will be flown below 400 ft (0.12 km) AGL at all times and no further than 500m from the Operator at the controls of the RPA or beyond visual line of sight under special approval.
(4) The Operator may make use of a Visual Observer (VO).
(5) The Operator or the VO may not fly more than one RPA at any one time.
(6) The RPA registered in Botswana is not permitted to cross International
Boundaries.
(7) No person shall operate an RPA unless they have in their possession the certificate issued by the Authority for each RPA in operation and the user manual for the RPA.
(8) The operator shall be 18 years older.
1) All controlled airspace unless with the specific permission of the relevant ATC authority and then only if two-way communication with that authority can be maintained.
2) Within a 3 km radius of an unmanned airfield unless the operator can monitor the unmanned airfield’s frequency of 125.5 MHz.
3) All national game parks and wild life sanctuaries.
4) Over any tourism facility (hotels, lodges and campsites etc.).
5) Over any wildlife in a manner in which the RPA will disturb such wildlife.
6) No RPA shall be flown within a lateral distance of 200 metres from any Power Line.
7) No Botswana registered RPA may fly across an international boundary.
8) All prohibited and restricted airspace noted in the AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication).
9) Take-off, land or fly over any major public roads.
10)Over any moving vehicular traffic.
11)An RPA may not be flown adjacent to or above a prison, police station, crime scene, court of law, and Government facilities including, military and security installations.
12)Over any private property unless with the specific permission of the owner.
13)Over built-up areas.
14)Over public gatherings or in any way that might cause injury to people or damage to property on the ground should the RPA suffer a failure
15)If special permission is required, for the purposes of aerial work, to overfly any of the above-mentioned areas, permission must be requested from the CAAB or the relevant authority, in writing.
Although the opportunities are open for all user’s locals and foreign applying for a drone permit have limitations if you wish to request a flight authorization.
If you wish to use your drone in Botswana, you will have to answer the following questions regardless of the use of the drone:
– Do you have the facility to request the permit in person and move from the location?
– Are you willing to change your travel route no matter the hours this take and invest a week, maybe 11 days in obtaining a flight license?
If the answer to the previous questions is NO, maybe you should think again in the idea of using your drone in Botswana we will show the overview.
According to the regulations, if you want an importation permit you must send an application 7 days before, where the required documents must be included:
1) Copy of I.D. or Passport.
2) Fingerprints with clearance stamp from Botswana Police Services
3) Proof of payment (Private-P250; Commercial-P500) per application. (Payment must be sent as part of the process)
4) The completed form (DIS Form) for vetting (To be completed at CAAB)
5) Copy of the RPA user manual
6) RPA for Inspection at CAAB offices
7) Letter of authorization from the property owner (For commercial operation).
Unfortunately based on previous experiences points 2 and 6 can only be resolved in Botswana by the operator.
You will be asked to go to the county of Gaborone or maybe Maun for a security interview with their department of Intelligence Service (DIS), where they will ask to bring your drone for inspection as well as to complete the application process.
These conditions come without exception and have been issued by The Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana. We invite all operators to bear this in mind before wishing to request an authorization.
Until there is a new drone regulation frame we are only able to provide a guide for this country and official contacts and information to ease the registration process once you are in Botswana.
Our administrative and legal service for the process to get a recreational and commercial permit costs $15 USD and needs to be paid to before we send any official document. *We are not obligated to provide any type of confidential information prior to payment*.
If you are interested, please contact us in this address support@uavsystemsinternational.com.
Flight Save and Good Luck!
