Drone Laws in Madagascar

Verfasst von Francis Markert | Last update on 07.08.2026 | 4 Kommentare

Read in this post which drone laws you have to observe in Madagascar.

Since February 2025, drone use in Madagascar has been governed by the RAM 10000 regulation. The competent authority is Aviation Civile de Madagascar (ACM). It states clearly that every drone use has to be approved in advance: professional, commercial and private alike.

You have to register yourself and your drone with the ACM if the drone weighs more than 900 grams and has a range of more than 100 meters. Important: that is the threshold for registration. Staying below it does not release you from the approval requirement.

To be granted permission, you have to fill in a form and send it to the ACM. In the application form, you have to provide information about yourself and about the drone you are using (e.g. take-off weight, number of rotors). Submit the application well in advance. According to first-hand reports, processing takes several weeks to months, and incomplete applications delay the procedure even further.

On top of that, a whole range of information and clearances is requested that you have to obtain beforehand. Based on the administrative practice so far, these include:

• Reason for the application
• Approval from the Ministry of Defence for the operation
• Approval from the local authorities
• Flight plan
• Proof of drone insurance
• Risk analysis for the intended maneuver

Permission is granted for the specific operation, not as a blanket approval for your entire stay.

On the question that comes up most often, the 250-gram limit: before the RAM 10000 came into force, the ACM had told Malagasy media that private flights with drones under 250 grams do not need approval. Since the regulation has been in force, that exemption no longer appears anywhere in the authority’s communication. In April 2026, the ACM explicitly repeated instead that every drone use requires prior approval, without naming any weight at all. So in Madagascar, do not rely on the 250-gram limit you are used to from the EU.

The ACM publicly named two further points in the run-up to the RAM 10000. We do not have official confirmation from the text of the regulation, because the authority’s website is currently unreachable:

• Drones over 4 kilograms must not be used if the flight is connected to a gathering of people.
• Violations can be punished with five to ten years in prison and a fine of one to 20 million ariary.

The ACM website has been completely offline for quite some time now. The text of the RAM 10000 is therefore currently not publicly available anywhere, and the forms that used to be posted there are gone as well. At the moment, the only reliable route is the authority’s email address.

For flights in protected areas, you need clearance from the respective area administration on top of the ACM approval. Since a large share of Madagascar’s national parks is under protection, this affects many of the most scenic destinations.

Plan the bureaucratic effort realistically: anyone who just wants to take a few spontaneous holiday shots will hardly get through the approval procedure. For planned projects with enough lead time, the route is workable.

Overview: Drone rules in Madagascar

Have you already travelled in Madagascar with your drone? Leave us a comment below this post and share your experience, especially how long the approval procedure took.

We have researched the listed drone regulations for Madagascar to the best of our knowledge. We cannot guarantee the correctness of the information. If you want to be on the safe side, contact the competent aviation authority. Alternatively, you can also ask the embassy in your home country for further information about the regulations. Please leave us a comment when you receive news and/or gain experience with your drone in Madagascar!