Emergency drone restriction at Plymouth, as the RAF Fairford and Drymen zones are revoked

Three emergency airspace instruments were made on 21 October 2026. One creates a new restriction for unmanned aircraft in Plymouth. The other two revoke the emergency restrictions around RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and around Drymen, near Stirling.

A new emergency restriction in Plymouth

The Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Plymouth, Devon) (Emergency) Regulations 2026 were made at 2.47pm on 21 October and came into force with immediate effect.

They say: "No unmanned aircraft is to fly below 1,200 feet above mean sea level over the area specified in Column 1 of the Schedule, being an area bounded by a circle of the radius specified in Column 2 and centred on the position specified in Column 3." The schedule gives a radius of 0.5 nautical mile, centred on 502147N 0040857W.

The restriction is written for unmanned aircraft only, and the height limit is measured above mean sea level rather than above the ground.

There is one exemption: "These Regulations do not apply to any unmanned aircraft flying in accordance with directions given by the Devon and Cornwall Police Counter-UAS Tactical Advisor."

The regulations open: "The Secretary of State for a reason affecting the public interest deems it necessary to restrict flying in the area specified in the Schedule by reason of an emergency having arisen in that area." They say nothing more about the emergency, and they set no end date. Their explanatory note says they "are intended to be of temporary duration and will be revoked as soon as the emergency in question has passed." When we checked legislation.gov.uk on 23 October, it listed no revocation of the Plymouth regulations.

Operators with work booked in Plymouth should plot the centre point and the 0.5 nautical mile radius rather than rely on a place name.

RAF Fairford: the five nautical mile zone has been revoked

On 5 October we reported an emergency restriction around RAF Fairford with no end date, covering a radius of 5 nautical miles below Flight Level 95. The Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire) (Emergency) (Revocation) Regulations 2026 were made at 4.18pm on 21 October and came into force with immediate effect.

They say the Secretary of State "has decided that it is no longer considered necessary in the public interest to restrict flying in the area specified" in the RAF Fairford emergency regulations, and that those regulations "are revoked."

Drymen: also revoked

The emergency restriction around Drymen, Stirling, made on 16 October, was revoked by The Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Drymen, Stirling, Scotland) (Emergency) (Revocation) Regulations 2026, made at 11.25am on 21 October. Its explanatory note says it revokes the earlier instrument, "the emergency in question having passed."

All three instruments were signed on the authority of the Secretary of State for Transport.