Aviation: Licensing

(asked on 18th April 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to require all aircraft to display a notice detailing that they are licensed for such operations.


Answered by
Jesse Norman Portrait
Jesse Norman
This question was answered on 25th April 2019

The Government currently has no plans to require all aircraft to display a notice detailing that they are licensed for such operations.

Any individual, organisation or company that intends to undertake commercial air transport is required by law to hold an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and an Operating Licence (OL). It is an offence to operate a commercial air transport flight without an AOC or OL. There is no requirement for the AOC to be displayed in the aircraft. However, it must be available to be inspected upon request by passengers and authorities along with the appropriate licence, aircraft registration document and maintenance certificate.

It is ultimately the responsibility of the pilot in command of each flight to make sure it is operated legally. As part of their initial training a pilot studies, and is examined on, air law. This covers the regulations to be met to carry fare paying passengers. A private pilot will therefore know that they do not have the necessary approvals to undertake a commercial flight.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has advised me that they do not believe that the introduction of a notice within the aircraft would be a deterrent to illegal activity taking place unless all passengers are aware of the legal requirements and potential impact of illegal public transport flying. Many aircraft can be used for both commercial and non-commercial flights and so on many occasions could be legally flown without the need for an AOC.

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