Author: Marco Liao, Executive Producer
The most expensive aerial shot is the one you cannot use. Fly without CAAS permits or inside a no-fly zone, and you can't publish the footage. The pilot risks a fine, and the edit has a hole where the opening shot should be.
This article covers what the law requires for a commercial drone shoot, how long the permits take, where you cannot fly, and what a drone day adds to the budget.
Yes. For a brand film or TVC, the drone operator needs a CAAS UA Operator Permit and a Class 1 Activity Permit, because commercial filming is business use. The drone must be registered if it weighs more than 250g and carry Broadcast Remote ID. The location must sit outside no-fly zones, which you check on OneMap. Allow 5 to 10 working days for the permits, plus a licensed operator, insurance,e and a weather date in the budget.
This article is for marketing managers, brand leads, and founders in Singapore who want aerial shots in a brand film, TVC, or corporate video. It explains what that asks of the schedule and the budget, and lets you check the claim "we can just fly a drone" before the shoot.
Yes, but commercial filming is business use, and business use needs permits that hobby flying does not.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) splits drone use into recreational, educational,l and business classes. Filming for a brand or a client is business use, regardless of the drone's weight. The operator needs a UA Operator Permit, valid for a year, and a Class 1 Activity Permit for the specific shoot; the second is not valid without the first. The conditions are on the CAAS requirements for flying page.
Any drone over 250g must also be registered: buy a S$25 registration label, then register the drone on the UA Portal. Flying an unregistered drone over 250g is an offence with a fine of up to S$10,000, up to six months in jail, or both, according to the CAAS registration page.
Drones over 250g flown outdoors must also carry Broadcast Remote Identification (B-RID), which CAAS describes as a digital license plate. Operator Permit holders using the FlyItSafe app during an approved flight are exempt, per the CAAS remote identification page.
Five working days if the operator already holds an Operator Permit, 10 if not, and a drone day adds five line items a ground shoot does not carry.
An operator with a current Operator Permit needs only the Class 1 Activity Permit for your shoot, which CAAS processes in 5 working days. Without one, add 10 working days for the Operator Permit and 7 working days for the UA tracker; the Activity Permit is not valid until the Operator Permit is held. The fees below are from the CAAS operator and activity permits page.
These sit on top of the production bands in our video production cost guide: S$15,000 to S$50,000 for a brand film, S$50,000 to S$250,000 and above for a TVC. Keep that guide's 10 to 15% contingency, because the drone day is the part of the schedule most likely to move.
Without a permit, you cannot fly within 5km of any aerodrome or military airbase, inside danger, restricted, and protected areas, or anywhere a Temporary Restricted Area has been declared; prohibited areas are closed at all times.
The general no-fly zones and the two community flying areas at Pandan Reservoir and Dover Road are on the CAAS no-fly zones page. A CAAS permit can allow a commercial shoot into some restricted airspace, but prohibited areas are closed at all times, and protected areas also require a Singapore Police Force permit. Temporary Restricted Areas appear around events such as the National Day Parade and can close a location that was fine the month before.
National parks, nature reserves and private property add their own conditions. A mall rooftop or a factory yard belongs to someone who can say no even when CAAS has said yes. The owner's written permission sits in the pre-production file next to the permit.
The check belongs at the recce, not on the shoot day. The OneMap drone query tool shows where you can fly and where you need a permit. Search the exact take-off point, not the postcode.
We handle the permit application, the licensed operator, and the backup plan, so you can schedule the aerial shot like any other.
Drone Cinematography & Photography is listed under production on our services page. On a drone shoot, the producer runs the OneMap check at the recce and lodges the Class 1 Activity Permit with the shoot dates. The pilot is briefed from the shot list, and a weather date is held. The pilot and spotter are listed in our crew and equipment guide.
The planning discipline is the one in the Canon behind-the-scenes film, which follows the R5 Mk II Asia launch TVC from pre-production planning to on-set execution. Outside Singapore, the Association of Banks in Singapore EDP/EDP+ launch TVC was produced end-to-end in Bangkok, where a different aviation authority sets the rules.
If the shot is for a commercial, the permit lead time has to fit inside the pre-production stage in our guide to making a TVC, so lock the shoot dates early.
Before you brief an aerial shot, your team should:
A drone under 250g needs no registration, and a UA Pilot License is only required above 7kg. Between 1.5kg and 7 kg, in a publicly accessible place, the pilot needs a UA Basic Training Certificate or a Pilot License. But a license and a permit are different things. Once the flight is for business, the Operator Permit and Class 1 Activity Permit apply regardless of weight, so a 249g drone filming a product launch is still business use.
Only if your estate sits outside the 5km ring around every aerodrome and airbase, outside restricted and protected areas, and you keep the drone below 200 feet with it in sight. Check the exact take-off spot on the OneMap drone query before you fly, and remember that the estate management can add its own conditions.
Yes. Filming a company event is business use, so the operator needs the Operator Permit and a Class 1 Activity Permit. CAAS also requires that pairing for any flight over an event attended by more than 50 people, so even a staff day on an open field needs it.
The drone stays on the ground, and the permit is tied to the dates on the application. Moving the flight to new dates costs S$45 on the CAAS side, so the real cost of a washout is the crew, not the permit. That is why we hold a weather date.
Send us the location and the shot you have in mind, and we will check the airspace, tell you honestly whether a drone is the right tool, and build the permits and a weather plan into the schedule. If a drone is not possible there, we will say so before you have paid for the day. Get in touch with the team at hello@emergentfilms.com.
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