Luftverkehrsgesetz and Luftverkehrs-Ordnung: German aviation law for spotters explained

If you have stood at the fence for a few years, you know the discussions: “Is security allowed to do that?”, “Is this already airport grounds?”, “What was the deal with drones again?” The answers are buried in a web of acts and ordinances, headed by two sets of rules: the Luftverkehrsgesetz (LuftVG, Air Traffic Act) and the Luftverkehrs-Ordnung (LuftVO, Air Traffic Regulations). This guide explains the basics of German aviation law, shows how the layers work together, and sorts out which rules actually affect you as a spotter on the ground – and which do not.

The short answer: what do the LuftVG and LuftVO regulate?

The Luftverkehrsgesetz is the basic law of German aviation. It establishes that airspace may in principle be used freely, who may register and operate an aircraft, how airfields are approved, who provides air traffic control, who is liable in accidents and which violations are punishable by fines or criminal penalties. The Luftverkehrs-Ordnung builds on it and contains the concrete rules of conduct for everyone who takes part in air traffic – from the Airbus captain to the hobby drone pilot.

For you as a spotter, that means: as long as you stand with both feet on public ground, send nothing into the air and do not cross any barrier, aviation law in the narrow sense hardly matters. It becomes important at the edges – with drones, lasers, balloons and access to areas behind the fence.

The hierarchy of norms: who regulates what?

Aviation law is a textbook example of multi-level law. At the top are international agreements such as the Chicago Convention and the ICAO standards. Below that comes EU law, which today directly regulates many core issues. Only then come the German acts and ordinances – and at the very bottom the local rules.

Level	Examples	What it contains
International	Chicago Convention, ICAO standards	Principles of civil aviation, national registration prefixes
EU	SERA Regulation (EU) No. 923/2012, Drone Regulation (EU) 2019/947, Aviation Security Regulation (EC) No. 300/2008	uniform rules of the air, drone operations, security standards
Federal act	Luftverkehrsgesetz (LuftVG), Luftsicherheitsgesetz (LuftSiG)	Framework, responsibilities, fines and penalties
Federal ordinance	Luftverkehrs-Ordnung (LuftVO), Luftverkehrs-Zulassungs-Ordnung (LuftVZO)	Rules of conduct, licensing, registrations
Local	Permits, airport use regulations, house rules	Operating hours, observation deck rules, access rules

The LuftVO says this itself in its Section 1: it governs participation in air traffic in Germany insofar as the European regulations on rules of the air and drones do not apply or do not contain a provision. The actual flight rules – such as minimum altitudes or right-of-way rules – are now mostly found in the EU’s SERA Regulation. The LuftVO fills the gaps and adds national particularities.

The Air Traffic Act at a glance

The LuftVG was promulgated on August 1, 1922, and applies today in the revised version of May 10, 2007, which has been amended regularly since. For spotters, these building blocks are worth a look:

Section 1: freedom of airspace

Probably the best-known sentence in German aviation law: the use of airspace by aircraft is free, unless restricted by an act, ordinance, international law or EU law. Every restriction – restricted areas, control zones, flight restrictions – therefore needs a legal basis. What these airspaces look like on maps is explained in the guide How to recognize airspaces and control zones.

The second paragraph is interesting too: it lists what counts as an aircraft at all. Besides airplanes, rotorcraft, airships, gliders, motor gliders, balloons and rescue parachutes, this includes model aircraft, air sports equipment and unmanned aircraft systems. Anyone who launches a drone therefore takes part in air traffic in the legal sense – with all the obligations that come with it.

Sections 2 and 3: licensing and the aircraft register

A German aircraft may only fly if it is licensed and – where required – entered in the Luftfahrzeugrolle (aircraft register). Licensing includes, among other things, type certification, proof of airworthiness, liability insurance and compliance with noise rules. The register is where the registration you find on every German aircraft comes from. How to look one up is covered in the article How to look up the aircraft register.

Sections 6, 8 and 12: airfields and their surroundings

Airfields need a permit (Section 6), and larger facilities also need a planning approval procedure (Section 8), in which noise protection and environmental impact are examined, among other things. Many of the conditions you know as a spotter stem from these procedures – such as operating hours and night flight restrictions, which the article Night flight bans at German airports summarizes. The Bauschutzbereich (building restriction zone) under Section 12 ensures that buildings around airports cannot be built arbitrarily high – one reason why you rarely find elevated vantage points near the runway.

Sections 27c ff. and 31b: air traffic control

Air traffic control is meant to handle air traffic safely, in an orderly way and smoothly. Under Section 31b LuftVG, this task is carried out by an air navigation service provider organized as a GmbH (limited liability company) whose shares are held exclusively by the federal government – in practice, DFS. More in the profile DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung.

Sections 33 and 43: liability and insurance

The keeper of an aircraft is liable for damage caused during operation, even without fault of their own. As a safeguard, Section 43 requires liability insurance. This does not only affect airlines: drones are also subject to the insurance requirement, as the article Drone insurance explains.

Sections 58 to 62: fines and penalties

At the end of the act come the sanctions. Section 58 lists administrative offenses that can be punished with fines of up to €10,000, €30,000 or €50,000, depending on the violation. These include violations of the EU drone rules. Sections 59 to 62 contain criminal offenses, for example for flying without a license or permit or for violating no-fly zones and flight restrictions.

The Air Traffic Regulations: rules for all participants

The current LuftVO was promulgated on October 29, 2015. It replaced the earlier version and was adapted to the European SERA rules in the process. A large part is aimed at pilots: aerobatics, for example, is only allowed under visual flight rules and is generally prohibited below 450 meters above ground and over cities, crowds and airports. Dropping objects from aircraft is prohibited with few exceptions. There are also rules on altimeter settings, flying under bridges and cables, and flight plans.

More important for spotters are the sections that concern people on the ground.

Section 19: what is prohibited around airfields

Within less than 1.5 kilometers of an airfield’s boundary, the LuftVO prohibits, among other things:

• flying kites and children’s balloons, and operating power kites,
• setting off certain fireworks – category F2 is only off limits from January 2 to December 30, the stronger categories all year round,
• launching sky lanterns and similar balloon-like lights during operating hours,
• operating searchlights and lasers if they can disrupt flight operations.

The state aviation authority can grant exceptions. For spotters, this is mainly an issue at meetups and events at the fence: a birthday balloon for the group photo or a stunt kite in the meadow next to the approach path are not a good idea.

Section 20 and Section 21: permits and clearance

Certain activities require a permit even away from airfields, such as kites on lines longer than 100 meters, fireworks with a high ceiling, tethered balloons with a long tether, or lasers and searchlights that could dazzle pilots on approach and departure. In controlled airspace, some launches also need clearance from air traffic control.

Sections 21h ff.: drones in geographical zones

In addition to the EU Drone Regulation, the LuftVO specifies where drones may only fly under special conditions – including minimum distances from airfields, control zones, industrial facilities, federal highways, hospitals, residential properties and nature reserves. Which zones lie where is shown by the dipul map, which the guide Geozones and the dipul map explains. For the airport surroundings in particular, read the article Drones at airports – for spotters, this is the most common point of contact with the LuftVO.

What is not in the LuftVG or the LuftVO

Many questions that preoccupy spotters are not answered by aviation law in the narrow sense at all. The most important neighboring areas:

The core question “May I stand here and take photos?” is therefore not an aviation law question. It depends on who owns the ground, whether an area counts as landside or airside, and which house rules apply. The boundaries are explained in the guide Landside, airside, security area, and the full overview is in Is plane spotting allowed?. Military sites play a special role, as they are covered by their own protection rules – see Photographing military airfields.

Aviation law you see every day: the registration

You have a piece of aviation law in front of your lens with every sighting. The system of German registrations is set out in Annex 1 to the Luftverkehrs-Zulassungs-Ordnung. The first letter after the D- indicates the class:

Letter	Aircraft class
D-A	Aircraft over 20 t maximum takeoff mass
D-B	Aircraft from 14 to 20 t
D-C	Aircraft from 5.7 to 14 t
D-E / D-F	single-engine aircraft up to 2 t and 2 to 5.7 t respectively
D-G / D-I	multi-engine aircraft up to 2 t and 2 to 5.7 t respectively
D-H	Rotorcraft
D-K	Motor gliders
D-L	Airships
D-M / D-N	Air sports equipment with and without engine respectively
D-O	Manned balloons

Gliders carry digits instead of letters after the D. At airports you therefore meet almost only D-A registrations on airliners, while at smaller fields the colorful mix of D-E, D-K and D-M dominates. The details are explained in German aircraft registrations; where the registration has to be on the aircraft is covered under Registration placement.

Who enforces it? The authorities in aviation law

The LuftVG distributes tasks between the federal government and the states. Federal tasks are handled by the Federal Ministry of Transport and bodies it designates, such as the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (Federal Aviation Office), which among other things keeps the aircraft register and is where drone operators register – see Registering a drone. Many other tasks are handled by the state aviation authorities on behalf of the federal government, such as approving airfields, exceptions under the LuftVO and parts of aviation oversight. For security matters at the airport, the Bundespolizei (federal police) and the state police come into play; how a check at the fence works is described in Police checks while spotting.

Short-term airspace restrictions, such as flight restriction areas for major events, are published via NOTAMs. For the drone pilots among spotters, the guide How to read NOTAMs is worthwhile.

Three typical situations sorted out

What to keep in mind

• The text of the law instead of forum wisdom. The LuftVG, LuftVO and LuftSiG are available free of charge at gesetze-im-internet.de. Anyone quoting a rule should look it up there – versions change, especially for drones.
• Think EU law too. Many flight rules and almost all drone law come from Brussels. The LuftVO only supplements.
• Abroad is different. Austria and Switzerland have their own sets of rules; overviews can be found under Spotting in Austria, Spotting in Switzerland and Spotting abroad.
• Follow instructions. Even if you are right on the merits: at the fence you do not debate paragraphs, you sort out questions later in peace.

Conclusion

German aviation law rests on two pillars: the Air Traffic Act sets the framework, from the freedom of airspace through licensing and airfields to liability and penalties, and the Air Traffic Regulations provide the rules of conduct and supplement the European SERA and drone rules. For spotters on the ground, direct contact is limited – essentially to what you send into the air: drones, laser light, kites and balloons. Questions about location and photography are decided by the Aviation Security Act, house rules and personality rights. Anyone who keeps these apart will also understand the discussions at the fence better – for example at Frankfurt Airport or at the Munich Airport visitors’ hill.