Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the safety implications of failing to renew the UK’s current exemption from Standard European Rules of Air on vertical separation from cloud in Class D airspace for aircraft operating under Visual Flight Rules.

The current exemption was issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to allow a safe and orderly transition to the requirements of the SERA with effect from 12 September 2019. The CAA is taking the necessary measures to meet the aims of the exemption. The SERA requirement gives effect to the international standard set out in Annex 2 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and is already safely applied throughout most of the world.

We are aware that the airspace structure in the UK may give rise to some operational complications in respect of complying with the SERA requirement. The Department is working with the CAA to fully understand any safety implications arising from the application of the requirement in the UK, including whether any safeguarding measures are necessary.