The UK Civil Aviation Authority has given provisional approval to the introduction of a national private pilot's licence (NPPL) which could be in place next year if criteria laid down by the general aviation industry are accepted by the government.
The UK could join a growing number of countries which offer NPPLs, including France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and the USA and could prompt other European nations, such as Ireland, to pursue a national licence.
"We have provisionally approved the draft stages of an NPPL. The industry now has to put the flesh on the bones. If the conditions are approved, it will be written into the air navigation order next year," says the CAA.
Representative trade bodies, including the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)and the General Aviation Manufacturers and Traders Association, believe the new licence will revitalise the UK training industry by making it more affordable and accessible.
AOPA says the stringent and costly requirements laid down in the European Joint Airworthiness Requirement for flightcrew licencing PPL, implemented last year, have discouraged pilot training and made recreational flying an elitist activity. "If JAR FCL was working there would be no need to implement a national PPL," says AOPA chief executive Martin Robinson.
The proposed NPPL training will come with a price tag of around £3,000 ($4,550), about half the price of the current JAR-FCL PPL. It will require fewer than 35 flying hours, compared with the current 45h, and 6h of flying in 12 months to keep the licence current. The JAR-FCL PPL requires a minimum of 12 annual flying hours in the latter half of the 24-month licence validity period.
The NPPL will be restricted to aircraft with four seats or fewer, with a fixed propeller and under-carriage as well as a maximum take off weight of up to 2,000kg (4,400lb). Operations will be limited to UK airspace in daytime visual flight rules.
Source: Flight International
