If the official viewer shows nothing on my spot, can I fly?

Not necessarily. The viewer shows published zones; the ones a rule defines, such as the distance to an infrastructure or to an urban area, can be there without being drawn. Both have to be checked.

Is a zone calculated by AXPA official?

No. It is the rule set by the regulation applied to public data, which is why each one says so on its card. It helps you not to miss a zone that exists; if in doubt about a specific case, ask the competent authority.

How do I tell a published zone from a calculated one in AXPA?

By its card. When you tap the zone, the sources section cites only the authority if the zone is published as is, and also cites AXPA Systems if the outline is ours.

Why doesn't the authority draw them all?

Because the regulation does not require it for the zone to bind, and drawing them means keeping an up-to-date inventory of thousands of places across the country. It is a data job, and it is exactly the one AXPA does.

Why doesn't the official map show every zone where I can't fly?

Because there are two kinds of zone. Some are published by the authority with their outline drawn: an airport, a restricted area, a temporary zone. Others are defined by the regulation itself through a rule, such as a distance to a type of place or a height above what lies below, and nobody is required to draw them one by one. Those do not always appear on the official viewer, but the pilot is answerable for them all the same. AXPA calculates them by applying the rule to terrain data, and each one says that the outline is ours.

Common European Union framework. Your country may add its own conditions.Reviewed on October 5, 2026

Flying at a specific spot?Check it on the map

In short

A published zone has an outline and a height set by the authority. A rule-based zone only has the rule: the outline comes from applying it to the map.
The A3 subcategory of the European regulation requires flying 150 metres away from residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas. It is the same rule across the Union and no country publishes it as a zone.
In Spain, article 39 of RD 517/2024 gives no list of infrastructures: it sets 25 metres from linear ones, 10 from the rest and 50 metres of height above their highest point.
In Germany, § 21j of the LuftVO makes clear that § 21h applies even if the zone has not been designated or published: what binds is the object the law describes.
Andorra does not publish a map of its thirteen permit zones: Decret 316/2025 describes them by name.
In AXPA, every calculated zone says so on its card, together with the source of the data it was calculated from.

Two ways of creating a zone

The first is the one everybody has in mind: the authority draws a polygon, gives it a height and publishes it. That is how airport zones, restricted areas and temporary reservations announced by NOTAM work. Each country's official viewer shows them as they are.

The second is less visible and very common. The regulation draws nothing: it describes a type of place and a distance, and the zone exists wherever that place exists. A substation, a road, a hospital or a cluster of houses generate their own zone simply by being there, even if nobody has traced its outline.

3D map of Toledo in AXPA showing only the zones published by the aviation authority: little more than the circles of nearby aerodromes. — Toledo, with only the zones the authority publishes.

The same view of Toledo with the zones AXPA calculates from the regulation: the urban core, roads, infrastructure and a protected natural area. — The same view, with the zones the regulation defines and AXPA calculates.

Why they are not always on the official viewer

Drawing a rule-based zone means knowing every place it applies to and applying the distance to each one, across the whole country. It is a data job, not a regulatory publication, and the regulation does not require it for the zone to bind. Some authorities do it in part, others warn about what their map leaves out, and others publish no map.

The practical consequence is the one that matters: a viewer with nothing painted on your spot does not mean there is no zone there. It means there is no published zone; the ones that come from a rule have to be checked separately.

Examples country by country

Across the Union, the A3 subcategory requires 150 metres from residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas. It is a European rule without a European map.

In Spain, articles 38 to 40 of RD 517/2024 define security zones, essential infrastructure zones and the urban environment by type of place and distance, and article 41 gives fixed dimensions to aerodrome zones. In Germany, § 21h of the LuftVO lists facilities, hospitals, residential properties and natural areas with their distances, and § 21j makes clear they bind even if unpublished. In France, the official DGAC chart warns about what it does not include. And in Andorra, outside the Union, Decret 316/2025 names its thirteen permit zones without an official map to go with them.

3D map of Andorra la Vella in AXPA with the zones of Decret 316/2025 drawn over the relief of the valleys. — Andorra: no authority publishes a map of its zones; AXPA draws them from the decree.

What AXPA does with them

AXPA applies each rule to terrain data: each country's cadastre and mapping, the inventories of protected areas and the buildings database. The result is painted on the same map as the published zones, with its height, and goes into the same viability analysis.

The two kinds are never mixed silently. A zone published as is cites only the authority that publishes it. A calculated zone cites the source of the data and also AXPA Systems as the author of the outline, because it is our reading of the regulation and not an official publication. If in doubt about a specific spot, the text of the regulation and the competent authority prevail.

Frequently asked questions

See all questions

If the official viewer shows nothing on my spot, can I fly?: Not necessarily. The viewer shows published zones; the ones a rule defines, such as the distance to an infrastructure or to an urban area, can be there without being drawn. Both have to be checked.
Is a zone calculated by AXPA official?: No. It is the rule set by the regulation applied to public data, which is why each one says so on its card. It helps you not to miss a zone that exists; if in doubt about a specific case, ask the competent authority.
How do I tell a published zone from a calculated one in AXPA?: By its card. When you tap the zone, the sources section cites only the authority if the zone is published as is, and also cites AXPA Systems if the outline is ours.
Why doesn't the authority draw them all?: Because the regulation does not require it for the zone to bind, and drawing them means keeping an up-to-date inventory of thousands of places across the country. It is a data job, and it is exactly the one AXPA does.

This guide is general information and planning support, not legal advice and not a flight authorisation. Regulations change and every country adds its own conditions. Before taking off, always check the official sources for your jurisdiction and current aeronautical information. The remote pilot in command is solely responsible for the flight.