Outdoor drone shows in Dubai

We staged an outdoor drone show in front of the Dubai Frame for the launch of the Voyager card by Emirates NBD and Mastercard. The drones flew opposite the landmark, so that the formations appeared inside its opening, with the choreography built to sit alongside the architecture rather than compete with it.

The site is a demanding one. The Dubai Frame is 150 metres high and about 95 metres wide, and it stands in Zabeel Park between the old city and the new. Its proportions follow the golden ratio, the facade carries more than 15,000 square metres of gold-toned stainless steel and 2,500 glass modules, and the sky deck with its glass floor sits at the top. It opened in January 2018 to a design by Fernando Donis, chosen through an international competition, and it holds the record as the largest frame in the world.

Our other outdoor show in the city was at the IBA 2025 Men’s World Boxing Championships: 1,000 drones above the golf club at the championship gala dinner on 12 December.

What this market looks like

The UAE is one of the three largest drone show markets in the world, alongside the United States and China. A few years ago shows like these were a rarity here; today there are many times more of them.

That sets the scale the local audience is used to: a show in the Emirates usually starts at a thousand drones. It is worth keeping in mind when the budget is being worked out, because a programme that would stand out in another country can go unnoticed here.

Where a project starts

Not with the script, but with the site. An outdoor drone show in the UAE is treated as an aviation operation held as part of an event, and everything that follows is built around specific coordinates.

The order is this: choose the emirate and the exact site, obtain the NOC from the site, then start the ground approvals and the aviation part, closing the local procedures of the emirate in parallel.

Here the Emirates have a real advantage. Drone shows are no longer an exotic event, so there are plenty of venues ready to host one: waterfronts, parks, stadiums, hotel grounds, exhibition sites. You can choose by the brief and by the picture rather than settle for the one option that agreed.

Venue owners are usually willing, and they issue the NOC, because the show works for them too. And the site’s NOC is the first document the whole chain rests on: without it the application for a flight permit cannot be filed with the civil aviation authority.

The NOC has to record the exact place and coordinates, the date and the time window, and the right to use a particular take-off point and place equipment. If the project includes tests and a rehearsal, their windows are best written into the same letter from the outset: an NOC that covers only the show itself puts readiness at risk.

Local procedures in Dubai

The system has two layers. The federal layer sets the basic requirements for unmanned operations, for the registration of drones, for pilot approvals, for insurance and for the coordination of airspace use. The emirate adds its own procedures.

In Dubai, flying during an event normally calls for a separate local procedure and an NOC for the event specifically. That is a frequent reason why a project which is technically ready cannot start: the federal part is closed and the local document is not.

The same show format in different emirates may call for a different set of local steps, even when the federal part is identical. Which is why the emirate and the exact location are settled before the chain begins.

Altitude is stated at the outset

A flight permit is mandatory, and the application states the altitude the show will run at. If it is not stated, the default is 120 metres.

For an animation of more than 400 drones, 120 metres is usually too low, particularly if the design has vertical figures and figures set high in the sky. The altitude cannot be added on site on the day of the show: it is a parameter of the application.

So the altitude is worked out together with the storyboard. First it is clear what has to be in the sky, then the altitude follows from that, and only then is the application filed.

How many drones a show needs

The number of drones sets what the animation can do, not just how big it looks. Fewer drones give sparer, graphic images that read beautifully at private and civic events. Portrait compositions begin to look convincing from 1,000 drones, because the likeness needs proportions rather than a silhouette. Text is the demanding part: allow 15 to 20 drones per letter, and often more.

Our fleet covers shows of up to 9,000 drones, and a programme can run up to 25 minutes.

The launch area

The launch and technical areas are fenced off physically, with only the working crew inside the perimeter and security outside it. Around the drones set out on the ground we keep a buffer of some 50 metres, so that nothing strays in and the return zone stays controlled. There are no people where the drones take off, transit, perform or land.

Weather

Our 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 Gulf. The final decision to launch is taken on the day of the show, after the weather on site has been assessed.

What a show costs

As a guide: about $100–200 (AED 370–730) per drone. The final figure is often determined by the venue and the number of shows, and the rate per drone goes down as the show gets larger. It also depends on the complexity of the performance, the number of take-offs and even the time and day of the week. Prices exclude 5 per cent VAT in the UAE.

Transportation of drones, customs clearance, the crew technical and hospitality riders, flight permits, rental of launch sites and pyrotechnics used with the drones are quoted separately.

We obtain the permits, not the client

In the countries where we have representative offices, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and India, we file the applications ourselves and carry the approval process with the aviation authority. Public liability is insured for two million US dollars, and the cover is worldwide. Our pilots are licensed and the equipment is backed up.

Our shows nearby and further afield

We have worked across the Emirates, not only in Dubai. In Abu Dhabi 1,000 drones opened the Festival of Health, we closed Oriflame’s international conference in the sky above the airport grounds, and flew at the launch of a technology company at Met Dhabi. In Sharjah we opened the 15th Sharjah Light Festival with a falcon and the symbols of the emirate.

In Dubai itself we also work indoors: the UAE Super Cup, where 200 drones flew inside a covered stadium for the first time anywhere in the world, the opening of MegaCampus Summit at Coca-Cola Arena, and the Funtico token launch. At the same IBA championships, four days before the outdoor show, we worked inside Festival Arena. At the Hatta Winter Festival radio-controlled airships shaped like two spheres and a falcon flew across several weekends.

Among our larger outdoor shows in the region: 1,000 drones at Al Shaqab in Doha and the Galatasaray championship celebration at RAMS Park in Istanbul.

How approvals work in the country is set out in detail in outdoor drone shows in the UAE. Our services: outdoor drone shows, indoor drone shows, radio-controlled airships and custom flying objects.

Where to start

Tell us where and when the event takes place and what it marks: an anniversary, an opening, a national date, a product launch. The occasion shapes the script and the size of the programme, while the site and the date shape how long the approvals take. That is enough for us to come back with a timeline and a price.