Aircrew Training and Licensing

From January 01, 2021, your UK issued ATPL license is no longer valid to operate an aircraft registered in an EASA Member State.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) No 2020/723. You can apply for that conversion to any of the EASA Member State 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) No 2020/723. 

For validations the application should be sent:  

• for pilots residing within the territory of the Union – a competent authority of the Member State of a place where a pilot resides or is established; 
• for pilots not residing in the territory of the Union – a competent authority of the Member State where the operator for which they are flying or intend to fly has its principal place of business, or where the aircraft on which they are flying or intend to fly is registered.

Under the EU Aircrew Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 a student may be admitted to 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 ATPL integrated course, you will also 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 Aircrew Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011).

If you could not transfer your licence and associated instructor certificate to an EASA Member State before January 1, 2021 then in in order to exercise the instructor privileges in an EASA Member State, or in an ATO located in UK and approved by EASA, after December 31, 2020 you should either:

• apply to an EASA Member State competent authority in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2020/723 for the issue of a Part FCL licence based on the equivalent UK licence, rating or certificate; or 
• in case you intend to provide instruction only in an EASA approved training organisation located in the UK, apply to an EASA Member State competent authority for an initial issue of an instructor certificate in accordance with the procedure laid down in point FCL.900(c) of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011.

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 ATPL 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 Aircrew Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011).

From the January 01, 2021 the UK issued examiner certificates can be no longer accepted in the EU to conduct skill test/proficiency check or assessment of competence for the issue, revalidation or renewal of Part-FCL licence, rating or certificate.

In the case of skill tests and proficiency checks provided outside the territory for which Member States are responsible under the Chicago Convention, you can apply to a EU 27 competent authority for the issue of an examiner certificate in accordance with point FCL.1000 (c) of Annex I to  Commission Regulation (EU) 1178/2011

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

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 issue 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 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) No 2020/723.

As of January 01, 2021 licenses and certificates issued by 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 licence must apply for its conversion in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2020/723.  The conversion process will require you to undertake additional training, theoretical and flight examination again.

After the 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 licence 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 1, 2021. Alternatively, as of January 1, 2021, UK issued PPL licences may be temporarily validated or converted into Part FCL licenses upon application submitted to an EASA Member State under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2020/723. As LAPL licence is not an ICAO compliant licence it cannot 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 became 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) No 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 FCL.025(c) in Annex 1 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 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.

Please note that this does not mean that the student file can be  transferred to an EASA Member State training organisation, but only that EASA Member State 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 a EU 27 competent authority or EASA before the 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 the 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.

Students who completed the training and examination for the licence issue in the UK before December 31, 2020 had a possibility to apply, before that date, to any competent authority of an EASA Member State for the issue of the licence.

After that date the recommendations for the theoretical and/or flight examination made by UK CAA approved training organisations (ATOs) or by declared training organisations (DTOs) under oversight of UK CAA as well as the skill test done with a UK certified examiner become invalid in EASA Member States.

However, valid theoretical knowledge examination completion certificates can be accepted by EASA Member States also after the 1 January 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 license), provided that those examination completion certificates are still within their validity period in accordance with FCL.025(c) in Annex 1 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 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.

Instructor and/or examiner certificates, such as synthetic flight instructor (SFI), synthetic flight examiner (SFE) and certificates issued under FCL.900(c) and FCL.1000(c), issued by the UK CAA are no longer valid and recognised in the EU for the purpose of exercising the privileges of the SFI certificate in accordance with Part FCL, unless they were transferred to an EASA Member State competent authority before January 01, 2021.

Please note that it was not possible to transfer to an EU Member State the SFI certificate alone. In accordance with FCL.915.SFI an applicant for an SFI certificate shall hold or have held a CPL, MPL or ATPL in the appropriate aircraft category. Namely, a Part FCL CPL, ATPL, MPL. In this case it is not required for the licence to contain valid ratings.