8 March 2012
The LAA has announced that the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the French Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile have reached agreement on allowing the other’s nationally approved amateur build, factory built light aircraft and microlights, to operate freely and without prior permission, within each other’s airspace for a period of up to 28 consecutive days.
Excluded from the authorisation are ex-military aircraft, gyroplanes and aircraft whose airworthiness documents carry endorsements of temporary validity or for test flying, such as ” temporary permit to fly” or ” permit to fly for test”. An application must be made to the appropriate airworthiness authority for permission to operate within its airspace for these aircraft. Likewise, aircraft owners wishing to stay for longer 28 days in a single visit will also need to seek prior permission.
LAA Chairman, Roger Hopkinson, commented, “The original approval for UK Permit to Fly aircraft to operate freely in France excluded factory built types, which needed special permission and a fee to be paid for each visiting period. This severely restricted easy access to France for a significantly large, and growing, number of our members. French aviators visiting the UK required pre-registration for amateur built aircraft and application with an associated fee for ex-factory (orphan) types and factory Microlights; and a standard visit was only 28 days in a year. Now, subject to what is in essence standard cross border conditions and for agreed orphan types (an agreed list of aircraft types) the sky has opened. I am particularly happy that these arrangement have been concluded in time for the coming season.”
All UK owners of LAA and CAA Permit to Fly aircraft are advised to check that their particular aircraft is approved as part of this agreement before flying to France and ensure they understand the conditions associated with the cross border arrangement. Full details can be found on the <a href=’http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/2012/News/french1.html’ target=’_blank’>LAA website</a>
