Province of Limburg: requesting permission to take off or land outside an airport

It is prohibited to take off or land an aircraft outside an airport. Aircraft include, for example, helicopters, paragliders and gliders. You need a ‘temporary and exceptional use’ (TUG) exemption if you wish to be exempt from this prohibition. You must submit an application to the province. Do you fly a drone? If the drone is heavier than 250 grams, you will need a flying licence. For this, you must first take a knowledge test online at an approved flight school. Do you own a drone? You need an operating number.

Support on applying for an exemption

You will be granted a TUG (temporary and exceptional use) exemption if the following conditions are met:

The aircraft in question is subject to an exemption.
The site is not located within an area covered by the national ecological network, a Natura 2000 area or a wildlife sanctuary or in a zone of 100 metres around such areas, as indicated on the map ‘Gebieden met beperkingen ontheffing TUG’ (‘Areas with TUG exemption restrictions’). The zone depends on the type of aircraft and exemption. When issuing an exemption, the province also takes the breeding season into account. A certain distance must also be kept from homes.
Motorised aircraft are prohibited from taking off from or landing at the sites in question during the night (23:00 to 07:00).
Use of the same site may not exceed 12 24 hour periods per calendar year.
In the case of regular (more than 12 days per year) use of a single site, it is possible to request a ‘verklaring van geen bezwaar’ (‘declaration of no objection’) from your municipality.

Required are

- plan or aerial photograph of the site (if applicable);
- noise certificate (mandatory for motorised aircraft);
- a signed authorisation if you are filling in this form as an authorised representative.

If you are a company, institution or government, you can submit the form and attachment via the secure email system Message Box for Business (https://www.berichtenbox.antwoordvoorbedrijven.nl/).

If you cannot submit the notification or exemption request digitally, you can send the form and attachment to our postal address:

Province of Limburg
P.O. Box 5700
6202 MA Maastricht

Applying for a TUG exemption is not subject to any costs (fees).

You will receive the decision within 8 weeks from the date we received your application. We can extend this period once only by 6 weeks

Have you applied for a permit? If you do not agree with our decision on your application, you can appeal. Do this within 6 weeks. Do you then disagree with the decision on your objection? Then you can appeal to the court within 6 weeks.

Contact the servicedesk of the Province of Limburg:
Telephone number +31 43 389 9999.