Dubai · United Arab Emirates
Licensed drone filming in Dubai
Aerial video and photography for hotels, resorts, property, tourism and events — flown by a DCAA and GCAA permitted crew who handle the approvals as part of the job.
What we fly for
Aerial work, by what it is for
The brief changes the flight. A resort needs the property to look like somewhere you want to wake up; a development needs progress you can measure; an event needs one continuous move that could not be shot any other way.
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Hotels & resorts
Property, grounds, pools, beach and desert approach — shot for OTAs, campaigns and social, where most of our aerial work sits.
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FPV fly-throughs
Fast, continuous single takes that move through a space rather than around it. Used where a conventional drone cannot hold the line.
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Cinematic aerial
High-resolution video and stills for brand films, commercials, tourism campaigns and property launches.
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Property & development
Progress documentation, site context and launch material for developers and real-estate marketing.
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Tourism & destinations
Destination films for tourism boards and operators, covering the geography a ground camera cannot explain.
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Events & automotive
Coverage where the scale of the thing is the story, and where timing is fixed and unrepeatable.
Permitted & insured
The approvals are part of the job
A drone in Dubai airspace is an aircraft, and commercial filming with one needs more than a pilot who owns a Mavic. We are permitted by both authorities and insured, and we do the paperwork so the client is not learning aviation law a fortnight before a shoot.
- Dubai Civil Aviation Authority
DCAA drone permit
Permitted to operate drones for commercial filming in Dubai.
- General Civil Aviation Authority
GCAA drone permit
Permitted to operate drones for commercial filming across the UAE.
What any individual shoot needs depends on where it is, how the aircraft will fly and whose property it is over. We assess that per project rather than promising one blanket approval that would not survive contact with a real location.
Flown for
Properties and brands
- Hotels & resorts
- The Ritz-Carlton Doha · Raffles Doha · Six Senses · Anantara · Fairmont Doha · Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa · Nurai Island · Radisson · Jawakara · Address Hotels + Resorts
- Tourism & brand
- Ras Al Khaimah Tourism · Dyson
Need more than the aerial?
Sortie Aerial Photography Services is the drone arm. The social media management, photography, video production and content work is handled by Sortie Media, the same company — so an aerial shoot can sit inside a wider content brief rather than arriving as a folder of clips nobody has a plan for.
Questions we get asked
Is commercial drone filming legal in Dubai?
Yes, with the right approvals. Commercial flights need a permitted operator and, depending on the location and the flight, further permissions from the relevant authorities. We hold DCAA and GCAA permits and handle the approvals for each shoot.
Do you handle the permits?
Yes. Permit handling and flight planning are part of the job, not an extra. What is required varies with the location, the airspace and the property, so we work it out per shoot rather than quoting one blanket answer.
What does a drone shoot in Dubai cost?
It depends on the location, how many flying days, what approvals are needed and how much editing follows. We quote per project rather than publishing a day rate that would be wrong for most of them.
Do you fly outside Dubai?
Yes — across the UAE, including Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. Approvals differ by emirate, which is worth factoring into the schedule.
Can we get vertical versions for Instagram and TikTok?
Yes. Aerial footage is framed with the crop in mind and delivered in both orientations where the shot allows it, so the social cut is not an afterthought.
Plan an aerial shoot
Tell us the location, the dates and what the footage is for.