BAHRAIN: Legislation passed Establishing An Independent CAA And Comprehensive Regulations For Drones
MANAMA, Bahrain
- Decree-Law No. (41) of 2026 was issued by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa amending certain provisions of the Civil Aviation Law promulgated by Law No. (14) of 2013.
- The decree establishes the Civil Aviation Authority as a body with legal personality and financial and administrative independence under the supervision of the minister, responsible for regulating civil aviation affairs in the Kingdom of Bahrain, exercising oversight over civil aviation activities and national aircraft, and regulating safety and aviation security, airports and landing sites, air transport, air navigation, search and rescue, and civil aviation meteorology.
- The Authority has a president appointed by decree on the nomination of the minister who manages the Authority and ensures compliance with the Chicago Convention and ICAO standards.
- The decree established the Aircraft Accidents Investigation Office reporting to the Council of Ministers to investigate accidents and serious incidents, collect and analyse safety information, determine causes and prepare reports and recommendations.
- The decree granted the Investigation Office and investigation committees powers including access to accident sites, inspections, examination of documents and records, interviews and seizure of evidence and wreckage.
- The amendment included provisions protecting the confidentiality of investigation records including statements, communications, medical and personal information and cockpit voice recordings.
- The decree introduced a new chapter on unmanned aircraft establishing a comprehensive legal framework for their operation, import, export, possession, manufacture, maintenance, modification, installation of imaging devices and control systems, and training.
- The decree has also introduced comprehensive regulations governing drones and civil aviation, pursuant to a decree-law establishing a Civil Aviation Authority with financial and administrative independence.
Under the old layout, the Bahraini Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) functioned as a traditional government bureaucracy tightly embedded within the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, meaning it relied entirely on ministerial budgets, operated under standard civil service constraints, and lacked a dedicated legal framework to police modern unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The new royal decree fundamentally alters this structure by stripping away ministry dependence and establishing an independent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that possesses total financial and administrative autonomy. While the old DCA managed safety through internal ministerial channels, the new decree strips the regulatory body of investigatory bias by transferring accident investigations to an autonomous, Cabinet-level office, while simultaneously arming the new CAA with the explicit, strict enforcement powers required to criminalize and penalize modern drone and cybersecurity threats.
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