139 Georgia

White rectangle with a central red cross extending to all four sides of the flag. Each of the four quadrants displays a small red bolnur-katskhuri cross. Sometimes referred to as the Five-Cross Flag. Although adopted as the official Georgian flag in 2004, the five-cross design is based on a 14th century banner of the Kingdom of Georgia.

Flag courtesy of the CIA World Factbook

Map courtesy of the CIA World Factbook

Google Earth

Metal doorway to the Jvari Monastery (Monastery of the Cross) at Mtskheta.

Photo courtesy of the CIA World Factbook

Georgia is a member of ICAO, EUROCONTROL, and JARUS.
Last updated on November 23, 2023

Government

According to Britannica, in 1992 Georgia, which had been operating under a Soviet-era constitution from 1978, reinstated its 1921 pre-Soviet constitution. A constitutional commission was formed in 1992 to draft a new constitution, and, after a protracted dispute over the extent of the authority to be accorded the executive, a new document was adopted in 1995.

Georgia is a unitary multiparty republic. Under the 1995 constitution the president was given extensive powers, but those were significantly reduced by constitutional amendments enacted in 2013 that expanded the role of the prime minister and the cabinet. Up through the presidential election of 2018, the president was elected to a maximum of two five-year terms by direct universal suffrage. Beginning in 2024, the president will be elected by an electoral college of 300 lawmakers and representatives. The legislature is an elected parliament whose members serve four-year terms. The judicial system includes district and city courts and a Supreme Court.

Civil / National Aviation Authority (CAA/NAA)

The Georgian Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) provides the following services:

  • organization and coordination of international relations of the agency;
  • cooperation with international organizations operating in the aviation field;
  • receiving delegations of international civil aviation organizations and aviation authorities of other countries, organizing meetings and compiling and storing relevant documents;
  • relations with the public and mass media – ensuring the transparency of the agency’s activities, informing the public about the agency’s annual reports and the situation in the relevant field;
  • managing the agency’s human resources, managing the personal files of employees, preparing materials on official transfer of employees, incentives and disciplinary responsibility;
  • management and coordination of training/retraining programs of agency employees;
  • planning and organizing attendance of employees at internal and external training courses;
  • ensuring the agency’s proceedings in accordance with the uniform rules of proceedings;
  • the registration of administrative-legal acts of the director of the agency and the incoming and outgoing correspondence of the agency, as well as the analysis and control of the execution of control tasks, writing down the documents taken under control within the established period, timely delivery of correspondence;
  • operation of aviation fixed telecommunication network facilities, receiving/sending correspondence;
  • storage of archival materials, archive production.

Airspace

SkyVectorGoogle MapsADS-B Exchange

ICAO countries publish an Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP). This document is divided into three parts: General (GEN), En Route (ENR) and Aerodromes (AD). ENR 1.4 details the types of airspace classes they chose to adopt from classes A through G. Georgia AIP

Georgia airspace

Georgia airspace

Drone Regulations

UAS Laws – registration

Categories of exploitation

Unmanned aerial vehicle system operation categories are: open, specific, and certified.

Open category

An operation is classified as an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operation in the “open category” only if the following requirements are met:

  • The UAS belongs to one of the classes defined by the Civil Aviation Agency, or is self-made, or meets the conditions established by the rules of the Civil Aviation Agency;
  • The maximum take-off weight of an unmanned aerial vehicle is less than 25 kg;
  • A remote pilot ensures that the unmanned aerial vehicle is at a safe distance from people and does not fly over crowded areas;
  • The remote pilot flies the unmanned aircraft within visual line of sight, unless using “follow-me mode” or using an observer as prescribed by Civil Aviation Agency regulations;
  • During the flight, the unmanned aerial vehicle will not take off at a height higher than 120 meters above the ground surface, except when overcoming an obstacle, as prescribed by the rules of the Civil Aviation Agency;
  • During the flight, the unmanned aerial vehicle will not carry dangerous cargo and will not drop objects;

The “open category” of UAS operation is divided into three subcategories: A1, A2 and A3, according to operational restrictions, remote pilot and technical capability requirements of the UAS.

 

Operation of UAS in subcategory A1 must comply with all of the following conditions:

Operation of unmanned aerial vehicles classified as Class C1 is carried out without the remote pilot flying the aircraft over a congregated area and reasonably assumes that no overflights of “non-participants” will take place. In case of unexpected overflight of “non-participating persons”, the remote pilot will minimize as much as possible the time during which the unmanned aerial vehicle will fly over said persons;
Operation of unmanned aerial vehicles classified as Class C0 is carried out in such a way that the remote pilot may fly over “non-participating persons” but must never fly over an assembly of people;
If operating in ‘follow me flight mode’, the operation must be performed within 50 meters of the remote pilot;
be carried out by a remote pilot who:

  • Familiar with the user manual provided by the UAS manufacturer;
  • In the case of a Class C1 unmanned aerial vehicle, successfully completed the agency’s online theory test.
Operation of UAS in subcategory A2 must comply with all of the following conditions:

must be implemented in such a way that the unmanned aerial vehicle does not fly over “non-participants” and maintains a horizontal safe distance of at least 30 meters from them; The remote pilot can reduce the horizontal safe distance to at least 5 meters from “non-participating persons” when the unmanned aerial vehicle is operated in the active “low speed” flight mode and taking into account the following circumstances:

  • weather conditions;
  • flight characteristics of unmanned aerial vehicles;
  • Aviation is segregation.

Must be performed by a remote pilot who is familiar with the UAS manufacturer’s user manual and holds an agency-issued remote pilot certificate of competency. The certificate must be received if all the conditions below are met in order:

  • theoretical knowledge test;
  • Carrying out the practical training in the operating conditions of sub-category A3, declaring the performance of said training and successfully completing the theoretical knowledge test of the agency.

Must be carried out by an unmanned aerial vehicle classified as Class C2 and operating with active and up-to-date direct remote identification and geo-information systems.

Operation of UAS in subcategory A3 must meet all of the following conditions:

must be conducted in a location where the remote pilot reasonably believes that during the entire time of operation and within the range over which the unmanned aerial vehicle is being flown, there will be no danger to any “non-participant”;
shall be carried out at a safe horizontal distance of at least 150 meters from residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas;
must be conducted by a remote pilot who has successfully completed the theoretical knowledge test specified in UAS operation subcategory A1;
To be carried out by an unmanned aerial vehicle:

  • whose maximum take-off weight, including payload, does not exceed 25 kg; or
  • which is marked as C2 class and complies with the requirements set for this class and will use active and up-to-date direct remote identification and geo-information systems in operation; or
  • which is marked as C3 class and complies with the requirements set for this class and will use active and up-to-date direct remote identification and geo-information systems in operation; or
  • which is marked as C4 class and complies with the requirements set for this class.
  • which is marked as C5 class and complies with the requirements set for this class.
  • which is marked as C6 class and complies with the requirements set for this class.

Specific Category

The operation is carried out in the “specific category” if any of the requirements established in the “open category” are not fulfilled, in which case the operator is obliged to obtain the appropriate authorization from the Civil Aviation Agency.
In order to obtain authorization, the operator must apply to the agency in accordance with the established rule.
The operator is not required to obtain authorization from the agency if he submits a declaration to the agency for the operation which, in accordance with the established requirements, belongs to the standard scenario.
No authorization or declaration is required:

  • If the operator has a light unmanned aircraft system operator’s certificate (LUC) with appropriate privileges in accordance with the established requirements;
  • In the event that the operation is carried out within the framework of the ‘model aircraft operating organization’ which has received authorization.

Certified. Category

An operation is classified as a UAS operation in the “Certified Category” only if the following requirements are met:

  • The UAS is certified according to the requirements established by the Civil Aviation Agency; and
  • Operation is carried out under any of the following conditions:
    • on top of the place of gathering of people;
    • when transporting people;
    • When transporting dangerous goods, which in the event of a serious incident may cause a high risk to third parties.

In addition, a UAS operation is classified as a UAS operation in the “certified category” when the agency, based on a risk assessment, determines that the risk of the operation cannot be adequately reduced without certification of the UAS and UAS operator and, if applicable, remote pilot licensing.

SORA

A Specific Operational Risk Assessment (SORA) provides an applicant with guidance on what is required to obtain agency authorization to fly an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in a given operational environment.
SORA is primarily intended for a “specific category” of UAS operations.
Given the design and operating conditions, SORA provides an adequate combination of prevention mechanisms to mitigate potential threats to humans on the ground or in the air, ensuring that the operator maintains the unmanned aerial vehicle within the operational space and achieves an acceptable level of operational risk.
SORA methodology
SORA methodology consists of ten system units:

UAS Class

Light unmanned aerial vehicle systems are mainly divided into 5 classes’.
These classes are related to the operational subcategories of the open category as follows:

UAS Class

UAS Class

UAS Class

UAS Class

UAS Class

UAS Class

UAS Class

 

No-fly and restricted areas

Operation in prohibited and restricted areas for flight is allowed only within the scope of authorization. Please view the mentioned areas

Application

In the near future, a specially designed application on Android & iOS system will be available for the users of the unmanned aerial vehicle system.

Public events

Exploitation over and near public gathering places is permitted only within the scope of authorization or certificate issued by the agency.

Marking

The marking must be placed on the outer surface of the ship’s structure in an easily visible place.

The unmanned aircraft system must be marked with a user registration number prior to operation.

The marking must be placed on the outer surface of the ship’s structure in an easily visible place.

Marking must be done in such a way that the customer registration number cannot be easily removed, damaged or erased.

How to label your drone

Safety rules

Please familiarize yourself with the relevant safety rules in force in Georgia before starting the flight.

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)

 

Short Essay Questions

Question 1

You have been hired by a Drone Startup Company. Your boss has immediately assigned this job to you.

They need you to prepare a one-page memo detailing the legalities of using a drone to film the monastery, pictured above.

They need you to mention any national laws and local ordinances.

They specifically want to know what airspace you will be operating in and whether or not you need an airspace authorization.

Does it matter whether or not you are a citizen of the country?

Lastly, there is a bonus for you if, as you scroll through this chapter, you find any typos or broken links!

Question 2

Do you need a certificate to fly UAS?

If so, how do you obtain one?

Are there fees associated with this?

If so, how much?

Question 3

May you operate beyond visual line of sight?

If so, what procedures must you follow?

Question 4

Does the country have UAM/AAM laws? If so, describe, citing the exact law.

Question 5

Are you aware of any new laws or policies not mentioned above? If so, describe, citing the exact law or policy.

 

 

 

License

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Drones Across the World Copyright © 2023 by Sarah Nilsson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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