Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) will now be alerted when Dubai's airspace has been intruded with illegal drones.
The drone-intrusion warning system, dubbed Sky Commander Tracking Programme, will signal a red alert when the flight paths have been compromised, this will not only protect the air space above Dubai International Airport but also passengers on aircrafts.
Drone owners and operators that have registered will be informed by SMS to change the course of their drone, however those who fail to do so will face a AED20,000 fine.
Speaking to Gulf News Khalid Al Arif, executive director of Aviation Safety and Environment Sector revealed that the new programme will ensure the safety of everyone.
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Michael Rudolph, DCAA head of Airspace and Environment, said: "The interconnectivity of our system allows us to track and follow any of our commercial [drone] pilots, so we have their history of every flight they take. Should they deviate more than 10 metres from the plan they submitted, a violation is automatically recorded on their file and we receive a message to let us know.
"The cost saving to the Dubai Economy is immense. For every disruption to commercial aviation operations that can be mitigated, safely, this is a huge saving not only in monetary terms but in people safety as well."
The new mandatory registration regulations requires all drone owners to file pre-approved flight plans in non-secure airspace zones which will be then be reviewed by the DCAA.
This first phase of tracking will only monitor and approve commercial drones, and the second phase will monitor registered hobby and non-commercial drones, potentially by 2018.
