19 February 2010
The CAA has announced that, subject to a change to the Air Navigation Order (ANO) planned for Spring 2010, flying training will be allowed to take place at unlicensed aerodromes.
Once the change to the ANO has been made by the Department for Transport, flight training at unlicensed airfields will be possible for fixed-wing aircraft up to 2,730kg Maximum Take-Off Mass (MTOM) and Helicopters and Gyroplanes up to 3,175kg MTOM.
The responsibility for ensuring an airfield is fit for training will be taken on by flying instructors and aerodrome operators. To assist them the CAA will be revising its document, CAP428 Safety Standards at Unlicensed Aerodromes, to include guidance on how to assess whether an airfield is suitable for training.
The decision follows a recommendation from the UK General Aviation community, a full public consultation in April 2008, and an analysis of the safety record of flight training in the UK. This concluded that there was no justifiable safety case to require flight training to be undertaken from a licensed airfield.
A further legal change will amend Rule 5 of the Rules of the Air to allow the practising of approaches to landing at an unlicensed aerodrome being used for training, as practise approaches are not currently allowed at unlicensed aerodromes.
Ray Elgy, Head of Licensing and Training Standards at the CAA’s Safety Regulation Group, said: “I’m pleased that we’ve been able to agree a change to the ANO to allow flight training at unlicensed airfields. All the safety data and evidence suggests that there is no justifiable case to require a licensed aerodrome for this task.
“This is a good example of the CAA following the principles of better regulation. We responded to a request from industry and, once we were content that safety levels could be maintained, removed a piece of regulation.”
Until the change to the legislation has been made the regulation requiring flight training to take place at a licensed airfield remains in place. Once the Government completes the change the CAA will issue notification to the GA community.
