3 November 2025
The CAA has launched a formal review of dozens of long-standing Letters of Agreement (LoAs) that allow general aviation aircraft to operate in and around controlled airspace in ways that don’t fully comply with the Rules of the Air.
The review, published as CAP 3096, aims to “regularise” these local agreements — some of which have existed for decades — by bringing them into line with current regulations and ensuring they’re properly published in the UK Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP).
The affected sites include familiar GA names such as White Waltham, Andrewsfield, Fairoaks, Audley End, RAF Halton, and several gliding and hang-gliding clubs near Luton, Gatwick, Bristol, Cardiff and Glasgow. Many of these arrangements permit operations without full ATC service, radio contact, or traffic information — conditions that are technically incompatible with the airspace classifications they sit within.
Under CAP 3096, operators (described as “change sponsors”) must submit a Statement of Need by 24 April 2026, followed by a safety case and compliant airspace proposal. The CAA expects all changes to be finalised and published by September 2027.
Although the CAA says it “does not expect any change to flight behaviours”, the document makes clear that where compliance cannot be achieved — or an exemption justified — non-compliant activities may have to stop. That could affect everything from gliding boxes in Class A airspace to microlight or non-radio operations in control zones.
Possible fixes include the creation of Temporary Reserved or Segregated Areas (TRAs/TSAs), allowing flexible activation for local flying activities without permanently infringing controlled airspace.
For now, the existing LoAs are extended to 2027 while the process unfolds.
In plain terms: CAP 3096 isn’t an immediate clampdown — but it does mark the beginning of the end for informal access arrangements around the UK’s busiest airports unless they can be made fully compliant.
We’ll be following how this review develops, and what it means for everyday GA flying. Look out for further coverage on flyer.co.uk and in The FLYER Show.
Read CAP3096 here
