Mozambique Drone Laws 2026: Permit, Cost & No-Fly Zones

Q: How much does a Mozambique drone permit cost?

MZN 4,500 — about $70 USD at the August 2026 rate of roughly MZN 64 to the dollar. That is the single fee listed in Annex C of Directive DSO-09-2018 for assessing a Notification Letter for personal/recreational RPAS flights, and you pay it once per application, attaching proof of payment to the letter itself. It is not an annual licence and it is not a per-flight charge. Commercial work is a different and much steeper world — MZN 14,750 for an initial operating approval letter, on top of registration and safety certificates — but that route is closed to visitors anyway (see below).

Flying a drone in Mozambique is legal for visitors but never casual: every flight, including a purely recreational one, needs written approval from the Mozambican Civil Aviation Institute (IACM) before it leaves the ground. You apply at least a week ahead, by email, and the fee is MZN 4,500 — about $70. Fly without that approval and the directive says the flight is unlawful, with detention and prosecution on the table.

Why this guide exists

Almost everything written about Mozambican drone rules is a paraphrase of a paraphrase — and it shows. Google’s own results for this question put a Facebook post and a Reddit thread above the specialist drone-law sites, which is a fair signal that the specialists aren’t answering it. IACM’s website has a drones section, but the page is an empty shell: headings for regulation, flight zones and registration with nothing published beneath them, untouched since March 2023.

So we went to the source. The rules below come from IACM Operational Safety Directive DSO-09-2018, a 71-page document dated 16 August 2018 that remains in force by its own terms — it says it stands until RPAS rules are published and folded into Mozambique’s MOZCARS and MOZCATS regulations, which hasn’t happened yet. Two things in it have never made it onto an English-language page: what the permission actually costs, and the fact that the document contradicts itself on how high you may fly.

We’re a tour operator, not a law firm, and this is a guide rather than legal advice. Every claim here is tied to a clause you can check yourself, and the directive is linked at the bottom.

Do you need permission to fly a drone in Mozambique?

Yes — and there is no recreational exemption. This is the single most misunderstood thing about flying here, because many countries let hobbyists fly a small drone with no paperwork at all. Mozambique doesn’t. Clause 8.1(i) of the directive is unambiguous:

Before operating any RPAS in Mozambican airspace, the IACM must issue a written approval. Without such approval, the flight operation will be considered unlawful.

The clause immediately above it adds that IACM must be informed of planned operations “regardless of the intended category of RPAS operations.” So there’s no size, weight or purpose that quietly lets you skip the process.

What does change with purpose is which door you go through. The directive sorts flights into Category A — personal and recreational — and Categories B, C1 and C2, which cover everything commercial. Category A is the one visitors use: no pilot licence required, no medical certificate, no English-proficiency test. Just the notification letter, the fee, and the wait.

Category B and above are effectively closed to travellers. Clause 8.3.3(a) issues those approvals only to companies registered and domiciled in Mozambique, which must produce company registration papers and proof of tax compliance. A visiting film-maker cannot buy their way into that category — the realistic route is to hire a Mozambican-registered operator who already holds it.

What it costs and how long it takes

A recreational drone permit in Mozambique costs MZN 4,500 — roughly $70 USD at the August 2026 rate of about MZN 64 to the dollar. Annex C of the directive lists it as a single fee “for the assessment of the notification letter” for personal and recreational flights. You pay once per application and attach the proof of payment to the letter; it isn’t an annual licence or a per-flight charge.

For scale, here’s the rest of the fee schedule, all in meticais:

What you’re paying for	Fee (MZN)	Roughly (USD)
Notification letter — personal/recreational (Category A)	4,500	~$70
Initial operating approval letter (Categories B, C1, C2)	14,750	~$230
Initial RPAS registration certificate	3,150	~$49
Initial safety certificate	3,150	~$49
Each additional drone on an approval letter	2,700	~$42
Renewal of an approval letter	3,375	~$53

The timing rule is a floor, not an estimate. Your notification, proof of payment and supporting documents must reach IACM at least one week before the flights you’re planning. The directive sets no turnaround commitment of its own, so a week is the minimum you’re allowed to leave, not the wait you should expect. On a short trip, send it a fortnight out.

If the application succeeds, IACM issues an approval letter carrying the specific limitations and conditions that apply to you. Those conditions win over anything on this page.

What you send IACM

The application is a single letter you write yourself, following the template in Annex I of the directive, emailed to IACM. Copy the annex text onto a blank page, fill in the details, sign it, and attach the supporting documents.

The address is worth a note. The body of the directive (clause 8.2.2(c)) prints the submission address as rpas.@iacm.gov.mz — which is malformed, a typo carried faithfully into most of the guides that copy it. Annex I gives the working address for recreational applications: rpas.private@iacm.gov.mz. Use that one, and copy the general inbox at geral@iacm.gov.mz if you get no reply.

What the letter has to contain:

You — full name, residential address, passport number, and your total hours of RPAS flying experience.
The aircraft — make and model (the annex’s own example is a DJI Phantom 4), type, the airframe serial number, and the serial number of the controller.
Where you intend to fly — the area of the proposed flight or flights.
Proof you’re allowed to be here. The annex explicitly anticipates tourists: attach copies of the relevant passport pages and your entry visa. Mozambicans attach an ID copy instead. Our visa and entry guide covers which authorisation you’ll be holding.
Proof the drone is yours — the purchase invoice, or a letter of authorisation from the owner if you borrowed it.
Written permission from the landowner or site manager of wherever you plan to fly, attached as a copy. On a private lodge or a fenced property, that means asking first.
Proof of payment of the MZN 4,500.

The letter then has you formally undertake to fly only in daylight and visual conditions, only one Class 1 aircraft, within the manufacturer’s limitations, and only over ground you have written permission to overfly. Class 1 means a maximum take-off mass of up to 5 kg, which covers every consumer drone sold — so that constraint binds almost nobody.

Where you cannot fly

Eleven flight conditions are prohibited outright, and they bind recreational flights just as they bind commercial ones — clause 8.2.1(c) applies the whole list to Category A. No night operations. No flying in restricted, prohibited or danger areas. Nothing in instrument meteorological conditions. No crossing Mozambique’s sovereign borders. Nothing in controlled airspace. Nothing beyond the lateral limit or within 50 metres of people or structures. No taking off from, landing on, or overflying a public road — and no flying within 50 metres of one. Nothing thrown or released from the aircraft. No dangerous goods, weapons or explosives. No recording people by video or photograph without their knowledge or consent. And nothing over National Key Points, police stations, nuclear installations, hospitals, prisons, courts, military or other government installations, or any other place of strategic interest.

That last one has a civilian echo worth knowing: the UK Foreign Office notes that in Mozambique “it is illegal to photograph government offices, airports, military establishments, residences and police or officials without special permission,” and advises that if in doubt, don’t take the picture. That applies to the camera in your hand as much as the one in the air.

The 5 km airport rule, and what it means in Vilanculos

The rule that catches most visitors is the aerodrome radius: no flying within 5 kilometres of any aerodrome. It sounds like a rule about big international airports. On this coast, it isn’t.

Vilanculos airport sits at 22.0184°S, 35.3133°E — roughly 2 kilometres from the centre of town. Draw the 5 km circle the directive requires and it covers the town, the market, and the beachfront where the dhows launch. The stretch of sand most people picture flying over is inside the no-fly radius before you account for anything else.

The same arithmetic applies at Inhambane for anyone based in Tofo, and the archipelago has airstrips of its own serving the island lodges. None of this makes a legal flight impossible — it makes where you fly something to agree with IACM in the application rather than to discover on the beach. If you tell us your dates and what you’re hoping to film, we can tell you what the ground actually looks like from a launching point of view.

Bazaruto and the national parks

A national park is a second permission, not a substitute for the first. Flying over the Bazaruto Archipelago requires prior written authorisation from the park authority, on top of the IACM approval — two separate applications, two separate yeses, neither of which can be arranged on the morning of a boat trip.

We enforce this on our own trips. Every group gets briefed before we land, and the drone rule sits alongside the rest of the park’s conditions — don’t touch or stand on the coral, don’t touch or feed wildlife, don’t collect shells or sand, no fishing outside designated zones, no fires except where indicated. It isn’t bureaucratic fussiness. The Bazaruto seagrass holds one of East Africa’s last dugong populations, and a drone dropped low over a resting group is a genuine disturbance rather than a photograph.

The park is administered by ANAC, Mozambique’s national conservation-areas authority, which lists the park office as pnabazaruto@gmail.com, (+258) 82 474 0320. Write to them early, and treat a same-week request as a no.

What’s changing

Mozambique is in the middle of rewriting who controls its airspace, which is the main reason to re-check this before you travel rather than trust any page — including this one — as permanent.

In 2024 the Assembly of the Republic approved, on first reading, a law on aerial survey and cinematography for civil purposes. Its Article 5(1) hands the authority to approve aerial survey and filming over national territory to the Minister of National Defence rather than to the civil aviation regulator. Defence Minister Cristóvão Chume told a parliamentary hearing in March that year that drones had been operating without legal oversight and that sites including the Presidency, the Assembly, the defence forces, airports and public events would be legally protected from unauthorised overflight.

For travellers, the important detail is what the law leaves out. It does not apply to “natural persons who may make aerial surveys or aerial cinematography for leisure and entertainment purposes or for personal purposes” — those, the text says, will be dealt with “under terms to be regulated.” Until that regulation appears, the 2018 IACM directive is what governs a visitor with a drone. When it does appear, this page will need rewriting; we’ll date the change when it happens.

Common questions

Can I bring a drone into Mozambique?

Yes — bringing one in is a separate question from flying one, and nothing in Mozambique's civil aviation directive bans the import of a personal drone. Carry it in your hand luggage with the batteries, the way every airline requires, and declare it if customs asks. What you cannot do is assume that getting it through the airport means you may fly it. Directive DSO-09-2018 is explicit on that point: "Before operating any RPAS in Mozambican airspace, the IACM must issue a written approval. Without such approval, the flight operation will be considered unlawful." So the drone in your bag is legal; the flight is what needs the paperwork.

My drone is under 250 g. Am I exempt?

No — and this catches people out, because sub-250 g exemptions are real in the US, UK and EU. Mozambique's directive does define a lighter-touch category, but it defines it by who it's for, not just by weight. A "toy aircraft" is one with no combustion engine, under 0.250 kg, "designed or intended, exclusively or otherwise, for recreational use by children under 14 years of age." A 249 g camera drone is built for adults making photographs, so it doesn't land in that bucket. It falls in Class 1 (maximum take-off mass up to 5 kg) — which is where every consumer drone sits, from the smallest folding model up — and Class 1 recreational flights need the notification letter and the written approval like any other.

How much does a Mozambique drone permit cost?

MZN 4,500 — about $70 USD at the August 2026 rate of roughly MZN 64 to the dollar. That is the single fee listed in Annex C of Directive DSO-09-2018 for assessing a Notification Letter for personal/recreational RPAS flights, and you pay it once per application, attaching proof of payment to the letter itself. It is not an annual licence and it is not a per-flight charge. Commercial work is a different and much steeper world — MZN 14,750 for an initial operating approval letter, on top of registration and safety certificates — but that route is closed to visitors anyway (see below).

Is it 100 feet or 200 feet? The rules seem to contradict each other.

They do contradict each other, and it is worth knowing before someone at an airfield asks you. Clause 8.2.1 of the directive says a recreational flight may not go above 100 feet above ground level, measured from the ground rather than from the top of whatever you're standing on. But Annex I — the undertaking you actually sign and submit — has you commit to flying no higher than 200 feet, and separately lists "flights above 200 feet above ground level" among the prohibited conditions. The same split shows up in the separation distances: the body says keep 30 metres from people and property, the annex says 50 metres. Our advice is to fly to the stricter number in each pair — 100 feet, 50 metres — because that keeps you inside both readings, and because the approval letter IACM sends back carries its own limitations and conditions, which override anything you read here.

Can I get a commercial drone permit as a visiting film-maker?

Not as an individual, no. Clause 8.3.3(a) restricts approval for the commercial categories (B, C1 and C2) to "companies registered in Mozambique and domiciled in Mozambique," which must also produce their company registration documents and a tax-compliance certificate. There is no foreign-visitor version of that permission. In practice a visiting film-maker has two options: fly under the personal/recreational category and keep the work genuinely personal, or commission a Mozambican-registered operator who already holds the approval. If you're being paid for the footage, the recreational category is not the right door — the directive limits it to flights "conducted only for personal or recreational purposes."

How long does IACM take to approve a drone flight?

The directive doesn't publish a turnaround time — what it sets is a floor on your side: the notification, the proof of payment and every supporting document must reach IACM at least one week before the flights you're planning. If the application is granted, IACM issues an approval letter setting out the limitations and conditions that apply to you. Because there's no published service standard, treat one week as the absolute minimum and send it earlier if your trip is short — a fortnight is more comfortable, and you'll want the approval in hand before you're standing on a beach with a packed drone and no answer.

What happens if I just fly it anyway?

The directive is unusually direct about this, and it's the part worth reading twice. Paragraph 9 of the notification letter has you state: "I am aware and accept that I may be detained and prosecuted if I carry out any of the prohibited flight activities in paragraph 8 above," and that IACM may hold the aircraft itself accountable. Add the separate photography rule the UK Foreign Office flags — it is illegal in Mozambique to photograph government offices, airports, military establishments, residences, and police or officials without special permission — and an unapproved flight near anything official stops being a paperwork problem. In practice most travellers who fly quietly on a beach are never troubled. But the downside isn't a fine you shrug off; it's detention, a confiscated drone, and a ruined trip.

Can I fly a drone over the Bazaruto Archipelago?

Only with prior written authorisation from the park, and it isn't something we or any operator can arrange on the day of a boat trip — you'd need to apply well in advance. Bazaruto Archipelago National Park is a protected marine area, and the park's permission sits on top of, not instead of, the IACM approval: two separate yeses. Our crews brief every group on this before we land, along with the rest of the park rules — no touching or standing on coral, no collecting shells or sand, no fishing outside designated zones. The park is administered by ANAC, Mozambique's national conservation-areas authority, which publishes the park office contact as pnabazaruto@gmail.com and (+258) 82 474 0320.

Where exactly can I not fly a drone in Mozambique?

Eleven conditions are listed as prohibited, and they apply to recreational flights as much as commercial ones. No night flying. Nothing in restricted, prohibited or danger areas. Nothing in instrument conditions. No crossing Mozambique's sovereign borders. Nothing within 5 kilometres of any aerodrome, and nothing in controlled airspace. Nothing beyond the lateral limit or within 50 metres of people or structures. No taking off from, landing on, or overflying a public road — and no flying within 50 metres of one. Nothing dropped or released from the aircraft. No filming or photographing people without their knowledge or consent. No dangerous goods, weapons or explosives. And nothing over National Key Points, police stations, nuclear installations, hospitals, prisons, courts, military or other government installations, or anywhere else of strategic interest.

Is it worth the hassle for a two-week holiday?

Honestly? For a lot of people, no — and we'd rather say so than sell you a process. MZN 4,500, a week of lead time, documents to gather, and a 100-foot ceiling that rules out most of the sweeping coastline shots people picture is a lot of friction for a fortnight. If you're a creator whose work depends on aerial footage, it's clearly worth doing properly, and doing it early. If you mostly wanted a few nice clips, a waterproof phone pouch and a seat at the front of the dhow will get you more usable footage than a grounded drone will. That's not us being discouraging about Mozambique — it's the same coastline either way, and it photographs beautifully from sea level.

Coming to shoot the coast?

The paperwork above is the unglamorous half. The half worth planning around is where you point the camera — the sandbanks that surface at low tide and vanish by mid-afternoon, the dune ridges above Ponta Dondo, the light in the hour before the boats come back. We run the boats that get you there, and we know which of it sits inside a park boundary and which doesn’t. Our Bazaruto and Benguerra day trip is the usual way people see the archipelago, and the islands guide is the wider map.

Still not sure?

Drone rules are the kind of thing that’s easy to get wrong from the other side of the world, and the cost of getting it wrong here is your equipment. If you’re planning to bring one, send us a message on WhatsApp with your dates and what you’re hoping to film — we’ll tell you honestly whether it’s worth the process for your trip, and what the ground looks like where you’re headed.

And if the answer turns out to be no, don’t write off the footage. The coast is generous from a boat.

Last reviewed: 28 August 2026. Fees, distances and clause numbers checked against the directive itself. Legal basis: IACM Operational Safety Directive DSO-09-2018 — Normas das Operações de Sistema de Aeronave Pilotada Remotamente (RPAS) of 16 August 2018 (clauses 8.1, 8.2, 8.3.3, Annex C, Annex I), published by the Instituto de Aviação Civil de Moçambique. Fees converted at approximately MZN 64 to the US dollar — see our money and costs guide. Other sources: ANAC — Administração Nacional das Áreas de Conservação (Bazaruto park authority and contact details), gov.uk travel advice for Mozambique (photography restrictions), and Club of Mozambique reporting on the 2024 aerial survey and cinematography bill. Airport coordinates via SKYbrary. Rules change — confirm with IACM at geral@iacm.gov.mz before you travel.

Flying a Drone in Mozambique