Aircrew Training and Licensing

From January 01, 2021, your UK-issued ATPL is no longer valid to operate an aircraft registered in an EASA Member State. Unless you were able to transfer that license to an EASA Member State before that date, you will need to convert it into an EU license in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/723. You can apply for that conversion to any of the EASA Member State’s competent authorities.

Your UK-issued pilot licence and medical certificate are considered as a third-country licence and certificate as of January 01, 2021 and thus they are no longer recognised for flying an aircraft registered in an EASA Member State as of that date. In this case, you may consider temporarily validating your UK license or converting it into an EU Part-FCL license according to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/723. 

Unless you were able to transfer your UK-issued license and medical certificates to an EASA Member State before January 01, 2021, those UK licenses and certificates became invalid in the EU as of that date and are now considered as third-country certificates. In such case, as a student pilot enrolled in an ATP integrated course, you will need a Part-MED medical certificate issued by an EASA Member State competent authority before your first solo flight (Point MED.A.030 (a) of Annex IV (Part-MED) to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011).

Under the EU Aircrew Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011, a student may be admitted to integrated ATP training either as an ab-initio entrant or as a holder of a PPL(A) or PPL(H) issued in accordance with Annex 1 to the Chicago Convention. In the case of a entrant already holding a PPL(A) or PPL(H), 50% of the hours flown prior to the course can be credited, up to a maximum of 40 hours flying experience, or 45 hours if an aeroplane night rating has been obtained, of which up to 20 hours may count towards the requirement for dual instruction flight time. Therefore, you may benefit of credits up to the abovementioned limits. As student pilot enrolled in an ATP integrated course, you will also need a Part-MED medical certificate issued by an EASA Member State’s competent authority before your first solo flight (point MED.A.030(a) of Annex IV (Part-MED) to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011).

After December 31, 2020, training for the issuance of a Part-FCL license must be conducted in a training organisation under oversight of an EASA Member State or EASA. Accordingly, after that date, training for the issuance of such a license in a UK-approved ATO is no longer possible. 

Students who started their courses in a UK-approved ATO before January 01, 2021 had a possibility, before that date, to transfer their training to a training organisation under oversight of an EASA Member State or EASA.  In such a case, the student wishing to transfer the training must have applied to the competent licensing authority of an EASA Member State for a formal assessment of the further hours of training required.

As of January 01, 2021, licenses and certificates issued by the UK are no longer valid in EASA Member States and are treated as a third-country licences and certificates. Accordingly, as of that date, a UK-issued ATPL cannot be used to operate aircraft of commercial operators under oversight of EASA Member States. 

As of January 01, 2021, in order to obtain a Part-FCL licence from an EASA Member State, UK licence holders must follow a conversion process as per Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/723.

Source: UK CAA

For the time being, there is no plan to develop a simplified application and validation procedure. Accordingly, any validation or conversion of a UK issued license should be done in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2020/723

As of January 01, 2021, licenses and certificates issued by the UK are no longer valid in EASA Member States and are treated as a third-country licences and certificates. As of that date, the holder of a UK-issued PPL may apply for its conversion in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/723. LAPLs can however not be converted in accordance with that Regulation.  

After December 31, 2020, the UK Part-FCL licences (both PPL and LAPL), issued by the UK CAA in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011, are no longer recognised as Part-FCL licences for the purpose of flying on aircraft registered in an EASA Member State. 

In order to continue to exercise the privileges associated with those UK issued licences they should have been transferred to an EASA Member State before January 01, 2021. Alternatively, as of January 1, 2021, UK-issued PPLs may be temporarily validated or converted into Part-FCL PPLs upon application submitted to an EASA Member State under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/723. However, the LAPL is not an ICAO-compliant licence and can therefore not be validated or converted following the above-mentioned provisions.

After December 31, 2020, holders of Part-FCL licence previously issued by the UK CAA cannot be longer considered holders of a Part-FCL licence issued in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 subject to mutual recognition within the EASA Member States. Such licenses are considered as third-country licences in the EU after that date. 

If a pilot was not able to transfer his/her license to an EASA Member State before January 01, 2021, the pilot still has an option to convert a UK-issued license into a Part-FCL licence in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/723 laying down detailed rules regarding the acceptance of third-country certification of pilots.

In accordance with that Delegated Regulation, an EASA Member State may issue Part-FCL licences to applicants who already hold an equivalent licence, rating, privilege or certificate issued in accordance with Annex 1 to the Chicago Convention by a third country, provided that those applicants comply with certain additional requirements and taking account of any credit based on a recommendation from an approved training organisation or a declared training organisation under oversight of an EASA Member State or EASA.

EASA Member State competent authorities may continue to accept such valid theoretical knowledge examination completion certificates for the purpose of issuing Part-FCL licenses and ratings in accordance with either Regulation (EU) 1178/2011 or Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/723, provided that those examination completion certificates are still within their validity period in accordance with point FCL.025(c) of Annex 1 (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 and provided that they were issued by the UK CAA before January 01, 2021 in full compliance with Annex 1 (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) 1178/2011. In particular, in accordance with point FCL.025(a)(1) of Annex 1 (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) 1178/2011, the entire set of theoretical knowledge examinations for a specific licence or rating must have been taken under the responsibility of the UK CAA.

Please note that this does not mean that the student file can be transferred to an EASA Member State’s training organisation, but only that EASA Member State’s competent authorities may continue to accept theoretical knowledge examination completion certificates which were issued before January 01, 2021 by the UK CAA for the purpose of issuing their own licenses or ratings.

After January 01, 2021, in order to continue relying on that ATPL theoretical knowledge examination issued by the UK CAA for the purpose of obtaining a Part-FCL license or rating, the student should undergo flight training at a training organisation under oversight of EASA or an EASA Member State and apply for the issue of the license or rating to one of the EASA Member States competent authorities within the period of validity of the theoretical knowledge examination certificate concerned. 

In case the student transferred to an ATO approved by an EU27 competent authority or EASA before January 01, 2021, the student should also have applied to the competent licensing authority of an EASA Member State by that date for a formal assessment of the further hours of training required. The new EU competent authority will be the one to whom the student will apply for the licence issue.

From January 01, 2021, cabin crew attestation issued by the UK are no longer valid and mutually recognized for use on an aircraft operated by a commercial air transport operator certified by an EASA Member State. Until that date, holders of cabin crew attestation issued by the UK CAA or by UK approved organisations had an option of transferring that attestation to an EASA Member State.

Valid theoretical knowledge examination completion certificates and skill tests can be accepted by EASA Member States also after the January 01, 2021 for the purpose of issuing Part-FCL licenses and ratings in accordance with either Regulation (EU) 1178/2011 (for the issue of a Part FCL licence after completion of the flight training and testing under the responsibility of a an EASA Member State competent authority) or Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/723 (in case of conversion of the UK licence into a Part-FCL licence), provided that those examination completion certificates or skill tests are still within their validity period in accordance with point FCL.015(f) and point FCL.025(c) of Annex 1 (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) 1178/2011 and provided that they were issued by the UK CAA before January 01, 2021 in full compliance with Annex 1 (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) 1178/2011. In particular, in accordance with point FCL.025(a)(1) in Annex 1 (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) 1178/2011, the entire set of theoretical knowledge examinations for a specific licence or rating must have been taken under the responsibility of the UK CAA.