Plan
Drone rules: Vanuatu
Last checked: October 1, 2026
Allowed with conditions
Flying is allowed, but with conditions you need to know before you travel.
Every drone must be registered with the CAAV; since September 2024 a fee applies.
Information on an insurance requirement is contradictory; nothing official has been published.
For tourists
Besides registration, every operation needs a CAAV flight permit with flight plan, coordinates, date and time; allow at least five working days. The permit does not replace the consent of local landowners or the village community.
Further rules
- In Vanuatu every drone, regardless of weight, must be registered with the civil aviation authority CAAV – for foreign pilots, ideally before arrival. In addition to registration, every single flight requires a separate application with a flight plan, coordinates and the date and time, which takes around five working days to process.
- Whether liability insurance is required cannot be clarified officially; the available sources contradict each other, so cover is advisable. The maximum flight height is 120 metres (400 feet) and the maximum take-off weight 25 kilograms.
- No-fly zones apply within 4 kilometres of airports, runways and helipads, over residential areas and villages, and over cultural sites. Port Vila harbour requires an additional permit from the port authority, and the small Mystery Island counts entirely as airport grounds and is therefore off limits. For flights over private property, the landowner’s consent is required.
- In the event of violations, drones can be confiscated by the authority and the police; the available sources contradict each other considerably on the exact level of fines, so no reliable figure can be given here.
- A legal flight is feasible for tourists, but not spontaneously because of the additional individual permit for each flight – it is best to set the registration and your first flight application in motion before your trip.
Sources
This overview is not legal advice and not an official statement — laws change, and we cannot guarantee that every entry is fully up to date. Before your flight, please also check the official source or the local civil aviation authority.