Drone boat hire on the Lagan
A drone launched from a boat on the Lagan can follow the river into the city, lift over the Lagan Weir and turn to find the Harland and Wolff cranes and Titanic Belfast across the harbour. Every one of those shots starts with Belfast City Airport's zone, because the runway sits beside the harbour.
Above the weir, a small boat with a clear deck makes a steady platform for launch and recovery. For the harbour and the lough we use a larger boat with an open afterdeck, and a visual observer stands with the pilot whenever the drone is in the air.
Drones. The airport's flight restriction zone is a circle of 2 nautical miles around the airport, from the surface to 2,000 feet, with an extra strip off each end: one reaching south-west over the city, the other north-east over the lough. The Lagan Weir lies just inside the circle, and Titanic Belfast and the harbour basins lie well inside it, so a flight there needs the airport's permission first. Upstream of Queen's Bridge the river is outside the circle, but the south-western strip passes within about 100 to 200 metres of the water at Ormeau Bridge and Stranmillis, so launch points there are fixed in advance. On the lough, the water off Holywood is inside the circle, with the Palace Barracks restricted zone about a kilometre away; further out towards Bangor the airspace is clear.
Permission on the water. The Department for Communities is the navigation authority above the weir and Belfast Harbour controls the water below it, so the boat's positions are agreed with each.
Filming somewhere else? See all our film boat hire locations, or tell us where and we will find the right boat.
Partly. The Lagan Weir lies just inside the airport's circle of 2 nautical miles, and Titanic Belfast and the harbour basins lie well inside it, so a flight there needs the airport's permission first. Upstream of Queen's Bridge the river is outside the circle.
The river there is outside the circle, but the strip that reaches south-west over the city passes within about 100 to 200 metres of the water at Ormeau Bridge and Stranmillis, so launch points are fixed in advance.
The water off Holywood is inside the circle, with the Palace Barracks restricted zone about a kilometre away. Further out towards Bangor the airspace is clear.
