Indoor drone shows in Saudi Arabia
An indoor drone show opened CONEXÃO, an event about cultural exchange between Saudi Arabia and Brazil. The drones worked above the stage, and light figures standing for the two countries merged in the air into one. That was the idea of the evening, and the show said it without words.
The event itself, “Eltiqa: The Saudi–Brazilian Traditional Arts”, ran from 30 January to 1 February 2025 at the King Fahad Cultural Center. The programme brought together five Saudi and five Brazilian traditional performances, closing with a dance that blended both schools, and more than fifteen workshops and sessions on performing and visual arts. The organisers were Events by Safarly and ADD Enterprise.
Where we have flown in Riyadh
An energy conference. The drones flew inside the hall at the 11th Saudi Arabia Smart Grid Conference, from 18 to 20 December 2023 at the Hilton Riyadh, under the theme “Digital Decarbonization for a Better World”. The conference drew more than 3,000 attendees and 100 exhibitors.
A medical conference. Same hotel, February 2024. Between the talks by doctors and professors, radio-controlled branded airships carried the Lynparza logo and the conference slogan, while the drone show ran on the stage itself, drawing a model of DNA and other medical imagery. More than twenty speakers took part. The invitation came from Orion Events.
A SAB bank evening. Riyadh, 2024, as part of Cyber Security Month. Airships shaped like a dolphin and a sphere flew above the room. Even in familiar geometry an airship leaves a strong impression: a simple shape works as a clean canvas that emphasises the brand and the scale of the room, and stays readable from every seat.
Why a hall needs different drones
Our indoor drones weigh 120 grams and carry propeller guards, so they can work above guests rather than only above an empty stage. Airships take their lift from non-flammable helium.
A show in a hall almost always runs inside somebody else’s programme: at the medical conference we worked between the talks, at CONEXÃO we opened the event. The picture has to read from every seat in the room, not only from the centre.
What else can fly in Saudi Arabia
Radio-controlled airships. Lift from non-flammable helium, with speed and altitude chosen for controllability, so an airship can pass directly above the guests. The envelope is branded in full or built as a figure, as with the dolphin and the sphere at the SAB evening and the branded airships at the medical conference.
Custom flying figures. Built around a specific image: in Qatar, glowing phoenixes at the FIFA Arab Cup 2025 opening, whale sharks for Qatar Tourism, and in Kuwait toucans above the stage and the audience.
Aircraft models. Large radio-controlled aeroplanes, including in a client’s livery.
In one programme they combine: an airship or a figure works close to the audience, and the drone show closes the evening.
How a permit is obtained
The regulator is the General Authority of Civil Aviation, GACA. The regulatory basis is CAR Part 101, Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
An application for a commercial operation is filed through a company legally registered in Saudi Arabia. A foreign company with no local legal presence cannot file one. What is required: registration of the unmanned aircraft, permission for a commercial operation, coordinates, altitude and the time window, a risk assessment, liability insurance, and documents on the operator and the pilots. At public events, coordination with the regional security authorities is added.
Timescales: a standard operation takes four to six weeks, a state event or a sensitive zone eight to ten weeks.
DRONICO has its own legal entity in Saudi Arabia, so we file the application ourselves. Public liability is insured for two million US dollars, and the cover is worldwide.
If the show moves outdoors
Our fleet covers outdoor shows of up to 9,000 drones, with a programme of up to 25 minutes. The drones operate in winds up to 12 m/s, in light rain and in temperatures from –10 °C to +50 °C, which covers the summer heat of the region. The launch area is fenced off physically, with a buffer of some 50 metres around the drones set out on the ground, and no people inside the working zone.
Our outdoor programmes in the region run from a thousand drones. A thousand opened HH The Father Amir’s Prix at Al Shaqab in Doha, and a thousand opened the Festival of Health in Abu Dhabi. How this works across the country is set out on drone shows in Saudi Arabia.
Worth reading next
Approvals across the Gulf in full: permits and regulatory requirements for outdoor drone shows in GCC countries. Neighbouring markets: outdoor drone shows in the UAE, drone shows in Doha and Qatar. The hardware behind indoor flight: indoor drones. What an airship can do: radio-controlled airships at events. Services: indoor drone shows, outdoor drone shows, radio-controlled airships, custom flying objects.
Where to start
Tell us where and when the event takes place and what it marks. For a hall, add the ceiling height and a rough guest count if you already have them. That is enough for us to come back with a timeline and a price.
