Deadline looms for third country licence PPLs in UK

Pilots flying in the UK under a third country private pilot’s licence have until Saturday 15 April to comply with new requirements, otherwise they will be grounded.

There are two scenarios:

• FAA licence holders based in the UK need to self-declare that they comply with European requirements and get a Part-FCL examiner to sign the form confirming that the pilot has the required level of both air law and ATC knowledge
• Other third country licence holders are required to validate their licence and begin the conversion process to an EASA licence.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has advised pilots holding ‘third country’ private pilot licences (PPL) who are yet to convert their licenses to meet European regulations of the steps they must take to continue to fly in the UK after 8 April 2017, following a decision by the Department for Transport. Third country licences are those issued by non-European countries, such as the United States, Canada and Australia.

A pilot with a third country PPL who flies for more than 28 days per calendar year in the UK needs to comply with the terms of Europe’s Part-FCL, Annex III. This will require the pilot to validate or convert their licence to an equivalent issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).  Upon completion of the relevant form, pilots can obtain a validation for up to 24 months, which will allow them to continue flying while they arrange for conversion to an EASA PPL.

Under the terms of a pending bilateral agreement between the United States and the UK, holders of a licence issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will be able to continue flying using their FAA licences provided that they meet certain requirements.

The UK has put an exemption in place allowing the continued use of FAA PPLs until the bilateral has been finalised. To continue flying, holders of FAA licences must complete form SRG2140 and submit it to the CAA prior to their next flight.

The effective date of 8 April 2017 has been postponed for one week, because of the lateness of the DfT’s decision, under a general exemption implemented by the CAA.

All other third country licence holders should aim to validate their licences at the earliest opportunity and complete form SRG 2141 or SRG 2139 prior to their next flight.

Useful links (all open in a new window)
CAA Information Notice
SRG2140
SRG 2141
SRG2139