The Government unveiled 38 pilot projects under the new Low-Altitude Economy (LAE) Regulatory Sandbox on 20 March 2025. It aimed to enhance city management and promote smart living through innovative drone applications. Approved by the Working Group on Developing LAE after reviewing 72 proposals, these projects span diverse sectors, including emergency services, logistics, and surveillance. Chief Executive John Lee emphasised the LAE’s potential as a key driver for economic growth. At the same time, Transport Secretary Mable Chan highlighted plans to amend regulations to accommodate more advanced drone technologies.
Other than the LAE Regulatory Sandbox project, drone shows seemed to be the performance of the year in Hong Kong in 2024. The HKSAR Government and different corporations started to perform drone show, as an alternative to fireworks. One major successful and highly-anticipated drone show was the “100% Doraemon & Friends” Hong Kong drone show on July 25, 2024, hosted by ALLRightReserved and sponsored by Prudential Hong Kong. The show was the first Droaemon-themed drone show in the world, attracted tens of thousands of local residents and tourists. “Prudential sponsored the ‘100% DORAEMON & FRIENDS’ drone show, using the emerging low-attitude economy as a focal point to integrate technology with creative intellectual property… (The Drone show) fosters cross-industry collaboration and urban innovation, laying the foundation for Hong Kong’s development of a smart low-attitude economy while balancing entertainment and safety,” said YC Chen, Senior Consultant of Prudential Hong Kong.
What are the current drone policies in Hong Kong?
Before anyone flies a drone or a UFO in Hong Kong’s airspace, the Small Unmanned Aircraft (SUA) Order (Cap. 448G) must be obeyed. There are some key items listed in the SUA order:
Categories of drones
The SUA Order was imposed on June 1, 2022. The policy sorted drones into three categories – Category A1 (Drone weight <250g), Category A2 (250g < Drone weight < 7 kg), and Category B (7 kg < Drone weight < 25 kg). The regulations and limitations of drone operation in Hong Kong vary depending on the drone category.
[Popular drone models like DJI Mini 4 Pro weigh less than 249 grams, which falls into Category A1]As of April 2025, drone operators can only fly a Category A1 drone without registration. For drones that fall into Category A2 and Category B, both the drone model and the operator need to make a registration with the CAD. A registration sticker issued by the CAD shall be stuck to the registered drone.
Restricted Flying Zone
Hong Kong is a small city. Yet, the CAD has imposed a massive amount of limited flying area. The two biggest limited flying areas are Victoria Harbour, and the Hong Kong International Airport with its approach and departure flight routes. The rest of the restricted flying areas are mostly buildings, like government facilities, racecourses, and mountain peaks.
Flight Instructions
After checking the Restricted Flying Zone map, drone operators need to be familiar with the flight instructions before launching a drone, depending on the category of the drone.
Drones can only be flown during daylight hours as part of the general regulations. For altitude limits, Category A1 drones are restricted to a maximum height of 100 feet (approximately 30 meters), while Category A2 drones can reach up to 300 feet (around 100 meters). If an operator of a Category A1 drone wishes to fly at a higher altitude, they must register their drone with the Civil Aviation Department (CAD), allowing it to be upgraded to a Category A2 drone for an expanded flight range. Drone operators are also advised to maintain a visual line of sight with the drone at all times and not to launch a drone on a fluctuating surface.
Experienced Constraints under Current Circumstances
Tuen Mun, a district in Hong Kong, is often referred to as “Little Japan” due to its distinctive development. A comprehensive transportation network, including Light Rail, is available in Tuen Mun, while the scenic and tranquil Tuen Mun Ferry Pier is also accessible. Therefore, the reporters decided to have a drone fly over Tuen Mun to capture the district’s unique features.
Limited Flying Area
The Electronic Portal for Small Unmanned Aircraft map has shown that most of the area in Tuen Mun is restricted, including the Tuen Mun Hospital Helipad, Tai Lam Correctional Institution, Tuen Mun Police Station, Hong Kong Customs College, and several other locations. This extensive restriction is primarily due to Tuen Mun’s proximity to Hong Kong International Airport, where aircraft operate at low altitudes, and the Tsing Shan Firing Range, which is designated for military shooting practice.
Considering the factors, including an open environment and compliance with Hong Kong’s strict drone regulations. Eventually, Tuen Mun Park, located in Tuen Mun Town Centre, was chosen for the drone flying test.
Limited Flying Height
Initially, the reporter wants to capture the artificial waterfall and the pond in the same picture to show where the water from the fall goes. However, the drone the reporters used weighed 249g and fell under Category A1; it had a maximum flying altitude of 100 feet, which prevented the reporters from capturing the ideal image.
Limited Sight
The reporters were attempting to demonstrate the uniqueness of Tuen Mun through the picture, especially the Tuen Mun Park located in the town centre with a well-developed Light Rail network, as well as the residential area. Nevertheless, the picture failed to illustrate the Light Rail’s electronic cable due to the trees covering the end.
The limited sight of the trees and plants is one of the major situations that a flying drone may encounter. It is because The Hong Kong Government is focusing on improving the living environment in Hong Kong through active planting, maintenance, and preservation of trees and vegetation. Their goal is to enhance urban greenery and integrate greening into public works projects while encouraging private and community participation.
Gap in the Regulatory Awareness
When the reporter was operating a drone in a non-restricted area and was suddenly intercepted by staff shortly after takeoff. The other party pointed out that the reporter did not make any drone flying application, so the reporter was asked to land the equipment immediately and stop flying. Although the reporter explained that he was just conducting a routine flight in public airspace and did not go near surrounding buildings, the other party still refused to approve it on the grounds of lack of application. However, the staff did not pursue the matter further after stopping it.
Hong Kong’s airspace economy and control – what now?
Due to existing restrictions, multiple drone operators in Hong Kong have faced arrests after inadvertently flying their drones into restricted areas. As a result, many believe that developing a thriving drone industry in the city is a significant challenge. Meanwhile, Shenzhen’s low-altitude economy is advancing rapidly. Does this signal stagnation in Hong Kong’s drone sector?
The solution lies in the Low-Altitude Economy Regulatory Sandbox, introduced by the HKSAR Government in November 2024.
Low-altitude Economy Regulatory Sandbox: What is it?
Although a large sector of Hong Kong’s air space do not welcome drones.
The Low-Altitude Economy Regulatory Sandbox is an experimental program launched by Hong Kong’s Transport and Logistics Bureau. Setting up specified airspace as controlled testing environment, inviting technology firms to carry out innovative drone applications/experiments.
It aims to develop adaptive policies, validate airspace management, and collect data on safety parameters (e.g., weather, flight altitude, multi-drone operations) while ensuring public and aviation safety. The government received a total of 72 applications. After evaluation, 38 projects will be implemented, three Regulatory Sandbox pilot projects have been launched as of April 30, 2025.
The first sandbox air space has started operation covers Science Park to Ma On Shan.
Keeta drone: Food delivery
As one of the first 3 launched projects, Keeta (Holding company: Meituan) has started test operation of its food delivery drones on April 27, with one path from Science Park to Ma On Shan Promenade.
Unlike private drones, commercial drones can operate under broader restrictions after gained governments’ permission. For example, Keeta drone can fly within a range of five kilometers at a speed of 23 meters per second and at an altitude of 120 meters while fully loaded with 2.4 kilograms of goods.
Keeta drone trial operation: The Site
29 April, Pak Shek Kok Promenade, in front of the Science Park, testing in progress while Hong Kong Police Force visited and communicated with the ground crew. They are one of the government departments visited during the past three days of testing operation.
Police officers are looking over the fences with curiosity, inside is Keeta drone lying on the landing pad, ready to take off.
“There will be law enforcement related to drones in the future, so they (the police force) came to visit and learn about the technical details and structure of the drones. This will be helpful for arranging flight routes in the future.” Said Eric Tsang, the ground crew of Keeta. Despite of carrying the test operating, he communicates with the police officers and responds to their questions.
According to Eric, the drones contain two sim cards to maintain the connections with the headquarters. Either one of the sim cards is enough for doing the job. The drones work automatically most of the time, the sim cards are just for GPS signals, reporting the location of the drones. This is not a large amount of data. However, this is not enough to alleviate the police’s concerns about safety.
Is Keeta Drone Safe?
“Are these drones easy to be interfered? During the past drone performance when a lot of drones fly together, I’ve seen drones crashing into each other.” Asked one of the police officers.
“The mechanisms are different. For our drones, you must interfere with the entire signal base station. In that case, all the mobile phones within the range of this base station will also lose their signals.”
Eric further elaborated on introducing the safety precautions of the drone. Which was developed by Meituan, with various patented designs.
“Look at the propellers, there is six of them in total, while two of them at back is assembled upside down. This is a patented design, which is helpful for maintaining the stability of the drone’s attitude in the air.”
“If a drone is interfered, will the headquarters in mainland know, and have the control?” Asked police officer.
“Most of the time the drones operate automatically. However, human pilot will take over during emergency situations. In mainland, once the landing platform was not suitable for landing, there was some debris on it, and the battery of that drone is very low. The human pilot took over the drone and looked for suitable landing spot. Eventually the drone landed on the roof of a hospital, then the land crew went to collect it.”
“Take a look at the head of the drone, but don’t touch because it is very sensitive.” Said Eric. Under the circle shaped plate, there is a parachute. In the worst case, the parachute will pop out (like the airbags in the cars), preventing the drone from falling freely and bringing severe harm to people passing by.
How will the drones deliver food to the customers?
Once customers place the order, pick up men will go to collect the food from restaurant, and bring it to the airport. After pick up man put the food into specialized delivery box, the drones will follow the preset route to deliver the takeout to the destination.
There are QR codes on the landing pad, which are for drones to locate it’s position. This location is accurate and strict, doesn’t tolerance even a little deviation.
“This drone will only take off at this position. If you move it away or turn its angle a bit, it will not take off. This is to avoid yawing, because the drones operate following the preset route.”
After the drones arrive, customers will collect the food from this specialized delivery box, and return the box to the drone.
“This box is water proof, can be reused for dozens of times. This box weights only 400 grams, the maximum load of drones are 2.4 kg, so maximum of 2 kg food can be carried.” Eric introduced.
When Keeta drone officially open for service, there will be a more well designed landing spot. The drones will land from the top entrance, then the customers can collect the delivery box from a window below, like vending machine.
The application of drone delivery service in Shenzhen is ahead of Hong Kong. Meituan has developed multiple flight routes in Shenzhen, providing services available for celebrities and citizens. The caption is from the livestream of Famous Youtuber ishowspeed, he ordered drones food delivery in his trip in Shenzhen. Hong Kong’s landing spot of Keeta drone maybe the same as the ones in Shenzhen.