Drone Rules in Sweden: What Clients Should Check Before Booking

Since 2021 Sweden, like the rest of the EU, has regulated drones under common European rules. The Swedish Transport Agency, Transportstyrelsen, is the authority that applies them in Sweden, handles registration and issues authorisations.

The rules sort drone flights by risk rather than by whether they are private or commercial:

• The open category covers lower-risk flights within visual line of sight and below a set maximum height, with further subcategories depending on the weight of the drone and how close it flies to people. Most wedding, property and landscape work falls here.
• The specific category covers flights with higher risk, for example closer to people or in more complex environments, and requires an operational authorisation or a standard scenario declared to the authority.
• The certified category is for the highest-risk operations, comparable to manned aviation, and is not relevant to ordinary photo or video jobs.

You do not need to know the subcategories in detail. What matters is that a professional can tell you which category your job falls under and why. If a pilot cannot answer that clearly, look elsewhere.

Anyone who operates a camera drone in Sweden, apart from very small toy drones, normally has to register as a drone operator with Transportstyrelsen. Registration gives an operator ID, which is to be displayed on the drone. Separately, the remote pilot needs proof of competence suited to the category and subcategory they fly in, ranging from an online course and test to more extensive certificates.

As a client, ask:

1. Is the operator registered with Transportstyrelsen? The operator ID can be shown to you.
2. What competence does the pilot hold for the kind of flight planned at your location?
3. Is there liability insurance for drone operations? Ask the pilot what it covers.
4. Who is flying on the day? If the person you meet is not the person you booked, the same questions apply to them.

A professional answers these without hesitation. Through our platform, drone pilots are reviewed before joining, and the proposal names the person who will fly.

The most common reason a drone shot cannot be done as planned is the location. Sweden has geographical zones where flying is restricted or prohibited, or needs permission from the air traffic service or another authority first. They include:

• Around airports. Control zones around airports cover large areas. In Stockholm, Bromma airport lies very close to the city centre, and Arlanda's zone covers much of the area to the north. Göteborg Landvetter, Malmö, Åre Östersund and Kiruna have zones of their own.
• Central Stockholm. Parts of the inner city, including areas around the government quarter and the Royal Palace, lie inside restricted airspace or controlled airspace. Flying over Gamla stan, Riddarholmen or the waterfront around the palace is generally not something to plan a shoot around without checking first.
• Protected objects (skyddsobjekt). Military areas, some ports, power and water infrastructure and similar sites may be protected, which can prohibit photography altogether, from the ground or the air.
• Temporary restrictions. Large events, state visits and emergency operations can introduce short-term restrictions at short notice.

The official drone map published by LFV, the Swedish air navigation service, shows the zones. A pilot checks it, and any temporary restrictions, before every flight. If a key shot sits inside a zone, they will tell you whether permission can realistically be sought, how long that takes, or suggest another vantage point.

Much of Sweden's most photogenic landscape is protected. Nature reserves and national parks have their own regulations, set by the county administrative board (länsstyrelsen) or the managing authority, and many prohibit or limit drone flights, take-offs and landings. Bird protection areas often have seasonal bans during the nesting period, and some seal and bird colonies in the archipelago are closed to visitors altogether for part of the year.

This affects popular shoots in particular:

• The Stockholm archipelago. Some islands and skerries are reserves or bird sanctuaries, while others are private property; a sea-level shot from a boat may be the alternative.
• The mountains around Åre and Abisko. National parks and reserves cover large areas, and reindeer herding areas call for consideration: a drone can stress animals.
• Coastal Skåne and the west coast. Several stretches of coast are reserves with their own rules.

The right of public access (allemansrätten) lets you walk across most land, but it does not give a general right to fly a drone, and it does not override reserve regulations. Ask your pilot whether your chosen spot has local rules, and accept that the answer is sometimes "not here".

A drone sees more than a photographer on the ground: gardens, balconies, beaches and people who have not agreed to be filmed. Data protection rules and Swedish rules on the dissemination of aerial imagery can both apply to what is recorded and later published.

Practical points to agree with the pilot:

• Flying over people. In the open category, flying over uninvolved people is restricted, and over gatherings of people it is not allowed. At a wedding, guests should know a drone will be used; the pilot plans the route around them.
• Neighbours' property. For real estate photography, the shots are of your property, but neighbouring houses and gardens often appear. A good pilot frames to avoid identifiable people and private spaces next door.
• Publishing. If the images will be used on a website, in advertising or in a listing, say so in your request. The pilot checks whether anything in the frame, such as a protected site, limits publication, and the licence for commercial use is set out in the proposal.
• Sensitive locations. Some places may not be photographed and published from the air at all. If in doubt, the pilot leaves them out of the frame.

None of this makes drone work difficult; it just has to be planned rather than improvised on the day.

Rules aside, the weather decides most drone shoots. Wind is the main limit: along the coast and in the archipelago, wind often picks up during the day and eases in the evening. Rain and snow ground most drones, and very low temperatures in the north shorten battery time sharply.

The light changes a great deal over the Swedish year. In June, golden light comes very late in the evening in the south and does not really end in the far north, where the midnight sun lasts for weeks. In December, daylight in Stockholm lasts only around six hours, and north of the Arctic Circle the sun stays below the horizon for a period around the turn of the year. A pilot plans the flight window around this, and around a back-up date if the wind is too strong.

Before you accept a proposal for drone work, make sure you can answer yes to these:

1. The operator is registered with Transportstyrelsen and the pilot holds the competence for the planned flight.
2. The pilot has checked the zone status of your location, including any airport, restricted area or protected object.
3. Any nature reserve or local regulation at the site has been checked.
4. People who will be in the frame, such as wedding guests or staff, know about the drone.
5. You have said how the images will be used, and the licence matches.
6. There is a plan for wind, rain or a closed zone: another date, another vantage point or a ground-based alternative.

Our page on drone photography across Sweden shows where drone work typically suits, and for property listings in the capital see real estate photography in Stockholm.