Competent authority
The Urząd Lotnictwa Cywilnego (ULC), the civil aviation office, is the authority for uncrewed aircraft. The air navigation agency PAŻP holds the airspace side.
Registration
Operator registration is done online on drony.gov.pl, it is free and takes a few minutes. The operator number received is displayed on the aircraft and covers every aircraft you own.
Remote pilot certification
The A1/A3 training and exam are taken free of charge online in the KSID system: forty questions, 75 % pass mark.
⚠️ The Polish qualification does not expire, and that is a real difference. Where France caps its certificate at five years, Poland issues the A1/A3 subcategories with no time limit. Anyone reasoning from the French habit will look for a renewal date that does not exist.
Declarations for the European standard scenarios are also filed in KSID.
Operating categories
Open, Specific and Certified, under Regulation (EU) 2019/947, with the three subcategories A1, A2 and A3. Ceiling of 120 m above ground, within visual line of sight.
Airspace and official resources
⚠️ The official tool has changed, and many online guides still point at the old one. DroneRadar stopped being the reference application in September 2023. The official map is now DroneMap (dronemap.pansa.pl), and DroneTower is used to announce a flight.
Zones carry country-specific codes: DRA-P for prohibition, DRA-R for restriction, DRA-T for temporary and DRA-I for information. Those letters appear nowhere else in Europe.
National specifics
Announcing the flight is part of the ordinary gesture. Where other states expect you to consult a map, Poland expects a declaration in DroneTower for a significant share of operations. Checking the map without announcing leaves the flight incomplete as a matter of procedure.