A consensus-based region formation control protocol was proposed for the problem of region formation control of multi-unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) systems, providing a new solution for multi-UAV systems with communication delay. Firstly, the attraction potential field force and repulsion potential field force were designed to ensure that the UAVs fly towards the target area and complete the formation control in the area. Subsequently, a formation control protocol affected by communication delay was designed based on the consensus method. Then, the stability of the designed control protocol was demonstrated using Lyapunov stability analysis. Finally, the effectiveness of the distributed multi-UAV formation control protocol was verified by numerical simulation, and the results showed that the protocol can realize the region formation control of UAVs.