The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has today announced that initial pilot training will now be possible in aircraft with national permit to fly certification if the pilot being trained is the owner, or a joint owner, of the aircraft being used.

Today’s announcement builds on previous exemptions from the UK Air Navigation Order to allow aircraft on a permit to fly to be used for flight training.

Under the changes the pilot being trained must be at least a part owner of the aircraft (the current rules allow for a maximum of 20 owners of an individual aircraft).

If the training is for a European Aviation Safety Agency pilot licence or rating then it must be undertaken through an approved training organisation or a registered training facility. If the training facility is content this could still be carried out using the pilot’s own aircraft.

Tony Rapson, Head of the CAA’s GA Unit said: “This exemption is part of our commitment to bring in changes in advance of any future amendments to the Air Navigation Order that result from our recent review and consultation which is part of our ongoing GA change programme to make our regulation of GA proportionate and risk based.”

Welcoming the change Geoff Weighell, Chief Executive of the British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) said: “The BMAA has engaged with and supported the CAA in bringing forward this change, which is consistent with the regulatory approach of enabling reasonable risk based decisions to be made by members of the GA community. It will enable part-owners of microlights to build and learn to fly in their own aircraft, encouraging new pilots and therefore providing a boost to training schools and aircraft suppliers. It is a winning result for the microlight community and other group owners in GA.”

The exemption is available at training exemption.