LAANC: how to get controlled-airspace authorization

Controlled airspace is the airspace around towered airports and busy terminal areas where air traffic control actively manages traffic, as opposed to uncontrolled Class G airspace where a Part 107 pilot can fly with no prior authorization at all (subject to every other Part 107 rule). If you have ever opened a drone-flight-planning app and seen a blue or magenta shaded zone around an airport, that is controlled airspace, and it is the single most common reason a first-time Part 107 pilot gets stopped before they ever take off.

What LAANC actually is

The Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) is an FAA system, built jointly with a group of FAA-approved private companies called UAS Service Suppliers, that automates controlled-airspace authorization for drone flights below pre-approved altitude ceilings. Before LAANC existed, every controlled-airspace request went through a manual FAADroneZone application that could take weeks to process, with no guarantee of approval before your planned flight date. LAANC replaced that for most requests with something closer to an ATM transaction: enter your flight details, and if your request falls inside a pre-approved grid, you get an answer in minutes.

When you need it

Under 14 CFR 107.41 (Operation in Certain Airspace), a Part 107 remote pilot needs prior authorization from air traffic control to fly in:

• Class B airspace, the busiest, around the nation’s largest airports.
• Class C airspace, around medium-to-large airports with an operating control tower and radar approach control.
• Class D airspace, around smaller airports with an operating control tower.
• The surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport, which covers some airports without a control tower that still require authorization near the surface.

Outside those, in Class G (uncontrolled) airspace or Class E airspace above the surface designation, no controlled-airspace authorization is required, though every other Part 107 rule (altitude ceiling, visual line of sight, right-of-way to manned aircraft) still applies. Regardless of airspace class, a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR, a short-term no-fly zone the FAA issues over an area for safety or security reasons) or a relevant Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM, the FAA’s system for publishing time-sensitive safety information) can still ground a flight that would otherwise be authorized, so check current NOTAMs and TFRs for your operating area before every flight regardless of LAANC status.

How a request actually gets evaluated

LAANC facilities publish a pre-approved altitude grid, a map of small cells around the airport, each with a maximum altitude the FAA has already cleared for automatic approval without human review. If your request fits inside a cell’s pre-approved altitude, LAANC issues authorization automatically, typically within minutes. If you request an altitude above what a cell allows, or you are operating in a facility whose airspace LAANC does not yet cover, the request routes to a manual review through FAADroneZone instead, which takes longer and is not guaranteed.

LAANC facility coverage has expanded over time since the system launched, and continues to expand. Check the current facility coverage map and participating UAS Service Supplier roster directly in your chosen app before relying on this page for a specific location: this page describes the mechanism, not a live coverage snapshot.

What LAANC does not do

LAANC only handles the controlled-airspace authorization requirement of 107.41. It does not grant a waiver for anything else Part 107 restricts by default, night operation (which, since 2021, no longer needs a waiver at all, see the night operations page), flight beyond visual line of sight (which still needs a separate case-by-case waiver, see the BVLOS page), or operation over people outside the Category 1 to 4 eligibility rules (see the operations-over-people page). Each of those is a separate authorization with its own process.

See the waivers & authorizations hub for the full post-certification picture, or the free recurrent-training path if you are here because you are already certified and keeping current.