Can you fly your drone in Finland?

Two separate things are easily confused here. Registration as a drone operator is required as soon as your drone weighs 250 g or more, or has a camera or sensor able to capture personal data — so it covers many sub-250 g drones too, unless they qualify for the toy exemption. The remote pilot's certificate of competency (Remote Pilot Certificate) is something else: you need it once your drone weighs 250 g or more, or carries a C1 or higher class mark. A camera drone under 250 g therefore needs registration, but no exam. You get the certificate by passing an online theory test with Traficom, and it is then valid across the whole EASA area, not just here.

Yes — EU drone rules apply to visitors too. If you are already registered as a drone operator in another EASA country, that registration and your A1/A3 certificate (also A2) are valid in Finland as well. Coming from outside the EASA area, you register once — in the first EASA country where you plan to fly, here with Traficom.

The short version: In the open category, the maximum permitted height is 120 m, measured as the distance to the closest point on the ground surface — not straight down, so near a slope the adjacent terrain may also be taken into account. Within a 50 m radius of a tall artificial obstacle (over 105 m), the maximum height may be increased up to 15 m above the height of the obstacle at the request of the entity responsible for the obstacle. On top of that: In Finland, the minimum age for a remote pilot is 12 years for drones weighing over 250 grams (Traficom); for C0-class or self-built drones under 250 grams, there is no age or training requirement. Note that the registering operator (user) must always be an adult — for a minor pilot, a guardian registers as the operator. Also: In the open category, the drone must stay within your own unaided visual line of sight (glasses/contact lenses are fine; binoculars or a screen are not) — or you can fly assisted by an observer, maintaining clear and effective communication with them at all times so that together you can monitor the airspace and avoid collisions. Follow-me mode is a separate exception, permitted at a maximum distance of 50 m from the pilot. These are central aviation rules — location-specific airspace, land, nature, privacy and photography requirements can also apply in Finland, so always check the official sources.

The no-go areas are the restricted zones — typically around airports, prisons, military sites and protected nature areas. In Finland you can see every zone on the interactive map on this page, and in the DroneKoll app wherever you are standing.

Drone flying in Finland is regulated by Traficom. The airspace itself is managed by Fintraffic ANS. You will find both organisations' official pages under Sources below — those are the links worth bookmarking.