ENNL

PROVINCIAL PERMITS

TUG-Permits

Provincial Take-Off & Landing Authorisations for Heavy-Lift Drone Operations

3kg

Take-off mass

TUG threshold

Provinces

With TUG regime

0 wk

Lead time

Official minimum

€2.823

Noord-Holland

Highest annual fee 2026

What is a TUG-permit?

A TUG-ontheffing — short for Tijdelijk en Uitzonderlijk Gebruik Wet luchtvaart (Temporary and Exceptional Use, Aviation Act) — is a provincial exemption originally designed for manned aviation, allowing aircraft to take off and land outside a designated airfield. The rule still applies today, and it still applies to drones above 25 kg take-off weight.

For Skymotion that threshold is reached the moment we put any of our heavy-lift cinema drones in the air with a real cinema camera on board: a Freefly Alta X with an ARRI Alexa Mini, a RED V-Raptor or an IMAX-class payload regularly exceeds 30 kg. So for every shoot in that weight class, in every Dutch province we operate in, a separate TUG-permit needs to be in place before we can lift off.

Why this matters for productions

The TUG procedure is bureaucratic, slow, and inconsistent across the twelve Dutch provinces. The administrative load is real, and most production teams have never heard of it before they're already in pre-production with a heavy-lift drone in the budget. Skymotion handles the entire TUG process on behalf of clients — but it helps if everyone involved knows what's actually being applied for, and how long it takes.

ALTA X — 30+ KG WITH PAYLOAD

Where the TUG falls short

These are the practical issues we run into on every heavy-lift production. They're documented in the 2023 Dronewatch interview with Tom Oudijk (founder of Skymotion) and they remain mostly unresolved in 2026:

Natura 2000 take-off ban

TUG rules forbid take-off inside protected nature areas, even with the area manager's permission. The workaround — take off outside and fly over with observers — often doesn't improve safety, it just adds complexity.

Unpredictable cost

Some provinces (Groningen, Limburg, Zuid-Holland, Noord-Brabant) issue the TUG at no cost. Noord-Holland charges up to €2,823 per year for a continuous TUG in 2026 (up from €1,070 in 2023), and the cost isn't always visible until the invoice arrives.

Inconsistent rules

The number of take-offs allowed per day varies from 3 to 50 depending on the province. Three a day is a hard limit when your cinema drone has a 10-minute flight time and you need to swap batteries.

Cumbersome procedures

Mandatory eHerkenning login, hidden application forms on provincial websites, and a procedure that varies per province.

Long turnaround times

Official lead time is 4 weeks. Real-world lead time can be longer.

Noise declarations

Some provinces still require a verklaring omtrent geluid with the application. ILT used to issue an exemption for drones; that exemption ended with the European rules.

Not near built-up areas

Some provinces only issue a TUG for locations outside the bebouwde kom — a serious limit for film productions that are perfectly safe in urban contexts (a closed park, a fenced rooftop).

Strained client relations

Telling a production to wait weeks, pay extra fees, or relocate is hard to explain when a manned helicopter — louder, more disruptive, more expensive — wouldn't trigger the same process.

HEAVY-LIFT IN THE FIELD

What we'd like to see

Raise the threshold to 50 kg

Most cinema drones operate well below 50 kg even with full payload. Raising the TUG threshold to 50 kg would remove most film and commercial operators from the regime entirely.

One unified national application

Route the TUG through GoDrone (the existing national airspace platform): one form, one process, twelve provinces.

Site-specific exemptions

Allow take-off inside Natura 2000 with the area manager's consent, and inside built-up areas with appropriate safety mitigations (perimeter, observers, SORA-approved procedures).

— Tom Oudijk, Skymotion (Dronewatch 2023)

We handle the TUG paperwork end-to-end.

Per province, per shoot date, per location. We know which provinces respond fast, which require eHerkenning, which want a separate noise declaration — and we make sure the permit is in hand before the call sheet goes out.

Plan a heavy-lift shoot →

The permit landscape

TUG cost per province 2026

Click a province for the application link

Groningen and Overijssel are running a pilot for a generic drone TUG (25–150 kg) until mid-2028.

No charge €0–200 €200–1000 €1000–2000 €2000+

Last verified: September 2026

Application timeline

From scoping to flight

Pre-shoot scoping

1–2 weeks before

Provincial application

submit + eHerkenning

4-week wait

official 4 weeks

Permit issued

valid 1 calendar year

Operation

max 12 use-days / location / year

PERMIT IN HAND, CAMERAS UP

Three types

Three types of TUG-exemption

Province-wide

Parapluontheffing helikopters

Province-wide, notification required.

Max 2 take-offs + 2 landings / location / day

One specific location

Locatiegebonden helikopters

For 1 specific location.

Max 30 or 50 flights depending on distance to buildings

Drones, fixed-wing, etc.

Locatiegebonden overige

For 1 specific location (drones, fixed-wing).

Same rules as helicopters

National baseline rules (apply everywhere in NL)

Maximum 12 use-days per location per calendar year. More than 12 days requires a full luchthavenbesluit or luchthavenregeling (much heavier process).
TUG is only for temporary and exceptional use outside an airfield.
Applies to all aircraft, including drones / UAS heavier than 25 kg or with specific payload.

Other important rules

Noise standard: max 80 dB(A) day-average near residential buildings (derived from Circulaire bouwlawaai).
Flight safety: minimum 50-metre distance to buildings (safety regulation).
Notification duty under umbrella-exemption: landing location often must be reported up to 48 hours in advance.
Incidents / MOR: always report to ILT / province.
Application via the provincial loket or Omgevingsdienst.
Exemption is valid for a maximum of 1 calendar year (Article 5).

See also our guide for productions: Filming with a drone above 25 kg — which permits, how much lead time and what the production needs to provide.