Singapore’s current drone regulations allow drones to be flown only up to about 60m above sea level without obtaining a permit. 

A drone flight height limit of 120m is usually the norm elsewhere in the world in countries such as the United States and Britain. Singapore’s 60m height limit is the most conservative in the region; Malaysia’s limit is 120m, Indonesia’s is 150m and Thailand’s is 90m.

The reason most countries adopt the 120m height limit is that manned flights do not go below 150m (except during takeoff and landing), leaving about 30m as a safety buffer. Regulations already take manned aircraft takeoff and landing into consideration by disallowing drone activities within 5km of any airport.

A drone flying in our built-up city-state is more prone to signal loss due to interference from the omnipresent Wi-Fi signals here. Allowing drones to fly up to 120m could mitigate Wi-Fi interference from the surrounding buildings and allow the drone pilot to maintain a more stable connection with the drone.

Some drones can automatically return to the pilot if the remote control signal is lost. If allowed to fly up to 120m, the drone could clear most buildings or obstacles and still return safely to the pilot as well.          

Ong Wee Teck