Flying a drone in Argentina: the ANAC rules for tourists and for hired pilots

Flying a drone in Argentina is regulated by Parts 100, 101 and 102 of the Regulaciones Argentinas de Aviación Civil (RAAC), the rules of the Administración Nacional de Aviación Civil (ANAC) approved by Resolución ANAC 550/2025 and amended in May 2026. They replaced Resolución 880/2019, the VANT regulation most older guides still describe, and they apply to a tourist's travel drone as much as to a professional pilot's. National parks add a second regime of their own, set by the Administración de Parques Nacionales (APN). This guide sets out what each text says as of 25 October 2026, and why a drone session booked here is flown by a pilot who works in Argentina.

The regulation in force

Resolución ANAC 550/2025 was signed on 7 August 2025 and entered into force on its publication in the Boletín Oficial on 8 August 2025. Its article 1 abrogates Resoluciones 880/2019, 885/2019, 319/2025 and 334/2025, and its articles 2, 4 and 5 approve three new Parts: Part 100 for the general requirements, Part 101 for the Open category and Part 102 for the Specific category.

Resolución ANAC 312/2026 approved Amendment 1 to Part 100 and entered into force on 23 May 2026, the day after its publication. Its annex rewrites three sections: the exclusions (100.03), the categories (100.04) and the operating limitations (100.17). According to its considerandos, the amendment removes from 100.17 limits that fall outside aviation, such as those on natural areas and roads, which is why national parks are now governed by the park authority's own rules.

Three categories, by risk and weight

Almost every travel, wedding and real-estate drone sits in the first two rows. The declaration produces an LV-R digital registration certificate automatically, according to section 100.05 (c).

How an Open-category drone may fly

In the Open category, the pilot licence, the medical certificate and registration in the aircraft register are voluntary, and so is insurance (Part 101, 101.03 and 101.05). Liability for damage to people and property on the ground stays with the pilot, the operator and the owner.

The 250 g exception

A drone under 250 g is outside Part 100 altogether, since 100.03 excludes it in the amended text. That removes the declaration, not the common sense: the APN regulation below still applies inside a national park, and a venue can still say no.

Tourists with their own drone

Argentina's drone rules do not bar a foreign drone. Section 100.05 accepts a registration certificate issued by the civil aviation authority of any member state of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and foreign drones follow the identification rules of the state where they are registered. A visitor's drone of 250 g or more otherwise flies under the same Open-category limits as a local one.

Two things stop most holiday flights before the airspace does. National parks ban recreational drones, and many private places ban drones on their own land: Cerro Campanario in Bariloche, for one, does not allow drones on its chairlift or at the summit.

Why a hired session uses a pilot who works in Argentina

A paid flight is work, and Ley de Migraciones 25.871, article 52, does not let a foreigner admitted as a "residente transitorio", which is what a tourist is, carry out paid work without authorisation from the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones. Every drone photo and video session booked here is therefore flown by a pilot based in Argentina, with the drone declared to the Registro Nacional de Aeronaves. Part 102 requires an operator holding a CETA to carry liability insurance when it flies in urban or populated areas or over gatherings (102.18).

National parks: the APN rules, not ANAC's

The amended 100.17 no longer mentions national parks, but the parks have their own regulation. The APN drone regulation, approved by Resolución D 9/2021, applies in every protected area the APN administers, including Nahuel Huapi, Los Glaciares, Iguazú and Tierra del Fuego.

A commercial drone shot inside a park also goes through the APN filming rules, which ask for the request at least 20 business days ahead (article 3) and, if a drone is approved, require it to fly outside the hours the area is open to the public (article 25). The national parks photography guide explains that procedure in full.

Cities, airports and wedding venues

Buenos Aires is the hardest city for a drone: Aeroparque Jorge Newbery sits on the riverfront inside the city, and the Casa Rosada is a named exclusion. Bariloche, El Calafate, Mendoza and Ushuaia each have an airport close to the places couples choose, so every flight plan starts with the distance to the nearest runway threshold. A wedding at an estancia or a bodega is usually rural airspace, which is where the Open category is at its simplest. Drone wedding coverage is planned in daylight, away from the seated guests, because 101.11 and 100.15 keep the drone off anyone who has not consented and off any crowd.

What a booked drone session includes

Each one includes the check against airports, the venue's own rules and the APN regime. See the Bariloche, El Calafate, Buenos Aires and Mendoza pages for where those flights happen, or book a session with your date and place.