• Operators of illegal drones flying over the Shanghai International and Tourism Resorts Zone's restricted area face huge fines, per the latest regulation by the zone committee.

Operators of illegal drones flying over the Shanghai International and Tourism Resorts Zone's restricted area face huge fines, per the latest regulation by the zone committee. (Photo : Reuters)

Unauthorized drone operators will face huge fines once caught flying UAVs over the restricted area at the Shanghai International and Tourism Resorts Zone, which covers the Shanghai Disney Resort.

According to the zone committee, illegal operators could pay up to 30,000 yuan or $4,518 once the restricted area is violated.

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"The committee has found numerous unauthorized drones flying over the core area of the zone recently to take photos, which raises safety concerns," a committee official said via Shanghai Daily.

Fines for individual operators range between 500 yuan and 2,000 yuan, while that for companies go as much as 30,000 yuan, said the zone committee.

The body added that this regulation is the same as the rule enforced at the World Expo in 2010.

Aside from drones, gliders, helicopters, hot-air balloons and airships are not allowed to take off or land over the core area. Their operators need to secure permit from authorities in advance.

The recent opening of the Shanghai Disneyland has made drone photography popular in the area, raising public concerns over safety.

In one video posted in April, a UAV fell to the ground of the Disney resort after it ran out of battery mid-flight.

In other cases, drone collision remains the most common safety risk facing UAVs. In the U.K, a drone collided into a British Airways plane flying over Heathrow.

"The pilot of the BA727 flight from Geneva, carrying 132 passengers and five crew members, reported to police that the front of the aircraft had been struck by the unmanned object shortly before it [landed]," The Telegraph wrote.

No one was injured in the incident, but this has brought fresh concerns over drone flying.

"Drone users have to understand that when taking to the skies they are potentially flying close to one of the busiest areas of airspace in the world--a complex system that brings together all manner of aircraft including passenger aeroplanes, military jets, helicopters, gliders and light aircraft," said a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority via The Telegraph.