Flying A Drone Near The Wimbledon Championships - *UPDATED* 2024 UK Drone Guide
The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and commonly considered the most prestigious. It must therefore come as no surprise that many aspiring drone pilots want to take their drones for a spin near the courts.
Below you will find a full rundown of all the latest information, applicable CAA rules and a couple of ideas we have had on how to safely operate near The Wimbledon Tennis Championships.
I must emphasise at this point that it is critical that you abide by the CAA drone rules and regulations when operating your drone near Wimbledon during the tournament.
Airspace Restrictions
Courtesy of the CAA
The Wimbledon Championships for 2024 run from Monday 1st July to Sunday 14th July. During this period, there will be a temporary No Fly Zone (NFZ) covering the airspace over the tournament. This temporary restriction is published annually by the CAA in the form of a notice to airman (NOTAM). The NOTAM historically states that “between 0500 hours and 2200 hours UTC on each day, no aircraft is to fly below 1500 FT AMSL within the area of a circle having a radius of 0.75 NM whose centre is 512601N 0001250W.”
For other temporary airspace restrictions (e.g heads of state visits, airshows etc), head over to the CAA’s Skywise website here.
Applicable UK Drone Rules
It is worth highlighting here that ALL drones of any weight and size are banned in this restricted airspace around Wimbledon. Whether you operate within the open category, specific category or certified category, unless you have approval to fly in accordance with the permission of the Championships Safety Officer, all operations are restricted.
Now, many of you might be thinking that a drone weighing less than 250g (e.g DJI Mini 3 or Mini 4 Pro) can legally fly over people in the UK. This is technically correct, however do remember that an event like Wimbledon will have crowds of people in and around the stadium. It is still prohibited to fly over crowds of people with your drone in the open and specific categories.
To refresh yourself on all the latest drone rules and regulations, please head over to the CAA website here.
Anti-Drone Technology In Use
Courtesy of DJI
Several measures are annually put in place to restrict the general public from operating drones near Wimbledon during the championships. If you operate DJI drones, you will be aware of the GEO zones which exist over certain restricted areas. During the Tennis tournament, DJI deploy a temporary authorisation zone around Wimbledon. No drone can take-off or fly into it unless they have unlocked the area with a verified DJI account.
Other precautions include Anti-drone technology being utilised by Wimbledon to deter illegal operations. This has been in place and further developed by 3rd party companies since 2019.
The metropolitan police also play a key role during the tournament in monitoring and reporting on drone hotspots.
Our Thoughts
The Wimbledon championship is a pinnacle event in the professional tennis calendar. It is therefore crucial that is is suitably safeguarded against the operation of unauthorised drones. If you are wanting to capture legal and safe aerial content however, here are a few ideas to think about:
If you hold an A2 Certificate of Competency, you could utilise the incredible zoom lenses on the DJI Mavic 3 series and operate within your licence outside of the Wimbledon No Fly Zone. This would require suitable planning however as several areas surrounding the NFZ ban drone flights (e.g Putney Heath)
The No Fly Zone has historically been active between 6am - 11pm local time daily. Therefore there is normally scope to operate outside of these times within the local area. A few points to note here. You must abide by the CAA drone rules and regulations of any qualification you might hold. The most appropriate drone to operate here would be something that weighs less than 250g such as a drone from the DJI Mini series.
In any case, we do not condone or recommend operating drones within Wimbledon’s airspace unless appropriately planned for with the suitable authorisations obtained.
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