Muscat – The authorities in Oman have officially restricted the use of drones to companies.
Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) announced that only companies in Oman can obtain permits to operate drones or remote-controlle planes.
“Applicants need to fill out application form AWRO33 and get NOCs from the competent authorities that include ROP, National Survey Authority (NSA), Royal Oman Police (ROP) and Royal Oman Airforce (RAFO)”, it said.
For those applying for photography purposes, NSA will be the agency for coordinating with the concerned military apparatus.
Ministry of Information will be responsible for granting permits for those applying for the purpose of film production.
Following approvals, the applicants will be asked to pay fees and will be briefed on instructions and regulations before granting the permit.
Recently an agreement was signed between Oman Technology Fund (OTF) and Careem, leading ride-hailing taxi app in the Middle East, to conduct a study on the development of transport and delivery applications using drones.
As per the first phase of the agreement, which will last for three months, there will be joint cooperation to find intelligent solutions for transportation and delivery using modern UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) techniques.
This phase will focus on the use of UAV technology for logistics delivery services in the oil and gas services, and logistics industries.