I finally did it. After years of circling the globe with my drones, I have finally come back to the place where it all started. DJI has its headquarters in Shenzhen, China, which is just a stone’s throw from Hong Kong. They have recently opened their DJI Flagship store in Hong Kong as well.

One of the obvious things in such a crowded city is to know where you can and can’t fly your drone, I expected Hong Kong to be off limits to drone pilots anyway, but since I was commuting and had my Mavic Pro with me, I thought it was worth giving a try and informed myself about the rules. Here’s what i found:

Hong Kong Drone Rules

The first learning was that actually there are no laws regarding drone usage. There’s only a guideline from the Civil Aviation department (http://cad.gov.hk) but this is not a law but a guideline. Anyway, it is a very logical one that makes sense.

Basically Hong Kong is still a drone flyer’s paradise, at least from a legal perspective. The guideline says that as long as you fly safe, there should be no problems. And the guideline defines what the CAD sees as ‘safe flying’:

• Not flying over 100m above ground and visual line of sight during daylight only
• Not flying over congested areas and people, such as the inner parts of the city, Victoria Harbor, and anywhere where helicopter and airplane traffic could be expected
• In general not flying over or near anything that could present a risk to safety in case of a crash or damage during flight.

The Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department has created a visual guide to show you the rules. You can find it below or grab a copy in the DJI Flagship store!

Hong Kong Drone Laws leaflet

Please be aware that mainland China’s drone laws are different from the ones in Hong Kong.

GO TO OVERVIEW: Drone Law Directory