Now the UK CAA has left EASA, students have to decide what licence or licences they would like to aim for. This decision needs to be made when it comes to the ATPL theory stage of your training.
It is recommended that a UK citizen gains a UK licence to be able to operate G-registered aircraft.
A UK Citizen should also consider obtaining an EASA licence – see below for further information.
Which licence might I need?
If you have the right to live and work in both the UK and the EU, then the question answer is quite simple: you should consider getting both licences to give yourself the greatest choice of where to work unless you are certain that you will only want to work for an EU airline, in which case you should get just an EASA licence.
If you do not have the right to live and work in the UK there is no point in getting a UK licence.
However, if you have the right to live and work in the UK but not the EU, you should consider getting both licences. This is because Ryanair predominantly employs UK citizens, for their bases in the UK, but flying EU-registered aircraft. Therefore, if you want to work for Ryanair we recommend you also obtain an EASA licence.
Similarly, some business jet operators operate EU-registered aircraft from the UK so you would need an EASA licence to work for them. However, all UK airlines require you to hold a UK licence. Several non-UK airlines, for example, Norwegian, have a UK Air Operator Certificate (AOC) for their UK bases so you would need a UK licence to fly their UK-based aircraft.
How can I get both EASA and UK licences?
If you are considering choosing an integrated course, some integrated providers only offer one licence, rather than offering both EASA and the UK CAA licences. Therefore, it is important to make your decision before choosing your training provider. If, you choose a school offering dual approvals you could graduate with both licences. There would be some additional training and testing, but the bulk of the course would be common to both licences.
If you are following the modular route, either on a packaged modular course or a bespoke arrangement, this is more straightforward.
These are the elements of a modular course:
- PPL theory and practical. Neither EASA nor the UK CAA require your PPL is regulated by them; any ICAO licence is acceptable, so almost any PPL issued in any country. However, you must remember that you may need to convert your ICAO PPL to the appropriate UK CAA or EASA PPL before your CPL / MEP / MEIR course, depending on the approval that your elected commercial flying school holds.
- ATPL theory. If you do your theory with Bristol Groundschool you will automatically be registered with both our EASA and UK CAA schools, making you eligible to sit either or both sets of exams. Therefore, other than the cost of sitting each exam twice, it is no different to obtain both sets of exams.
- Hours Building. By the time you start your CPL course, you’ll need a minimum of 150 hours, and by the time you apply for your license you will need 200 hours including 100 hours as a Pilot in Command. It is usual to log the bulk of these hours before starting the CPL or IR course. However, just as the PPL does not have to be overseen by the UK CAA or EASA, nor do these hours.
- CPL Approved Course and CPL Skills Test. You will need to do a course approved by the authority you want to issue your licence. To avoid doing the training twice, you therefore need to train with a flight school that has approvals from both the UK CAA and EASA. This limits your choice considerably. However, there are some good schools that have dual approvals including: Stapleford in the UK and FTE Jerez in Spain. You will either have to do two flight tests, or the examiner will have to hold the approval to conduct the CPL Skills test from each authority, meaning the test will count for both licences. The rest of the training should count for both licences and there should be little if any additional costs. Note, however, that the UK CAA will not accept CPL Skills tests which are combined with an IR Skills test, which is permitted by some EASA authorities.
- IR Approved Course and IR Skills Test. Much of the same considerations apply to Instrument Rating courses, with the added complication that the IR skills test must be conducted in one of the Member States in the case of EASA or, in the UK, in the case of the UK CAA. The regulation is ORA.ATO.150 and reads (EASA/UK version in brackets):
When the ATO is approved to provide training for the instrument rating (IR) in third countries:
(a) the training programme shall include acclimatisation flying in (one of the Member States/the United Kingdom) before the IR skill test is taken; and
(b) the IR skill test shall be taken in (one of the Member States/the United Kingdom).
In practice, this inevitably means some additional training and two IR Skills Tests. However, the additional flying and testing will come at a cost (and take more time).
- MCC. Whether you choose to do an APS-MCC course or the minimum necessary (an MCC course), there are limited training providers who offer certification for both UK CAA and EASA. We recommend VA Airline Training for a dual certification for APS MCC.
How much extra will it cost for dual approvals?
- PPL – no additional cost.
- ATPL Theory – no additional training cost. An extra set of exams, £1,144 for UK exams (2024 prices), £1,040 for Austro Control EASA exams. Other EASA authorities may be cheaper. Neither of these prices allows for any resits.
- Hours building – no additional cost.
- CPL Course – potentially no additional cost. If an additional flight test is required, budget for up to 2½ hours of aircraft hire and a flight test fee, so approximately £2,100, or less for single-engine aircraft.
- IR Course – it is difficult to be precise, but it may be necessary to repeat most of the aircraft training and an additional flight test, so the worst case would be 15 hours of training, 2½ hours of aircraft hire and a test fee for the flight test, approximately £9,600.
- APS-MCC or MCC – Approximately an extra £600.
So your total additional training and testing costs would be approximately £12,700.
Other fees
You will need a Class 1 Medical certificate from each licensing authority (approximately £720), you will pay two licence issue fees (up to about £270) and you may need to budget for additional food, accommodation and travel between training centres.
What about alternatives?
You could get one or other of the licences and then apply to convert to the other. However, conversion in either direction is not straightforward and will inevitably take longer and would cost considerably more than getting both licences at the same time.
You could avoid the most expensive element and get a CPL issued by both authorities but an IR by only one, and then do your IR later only if you need the other licence. This might be a good option if you are unsure you will use the second licence but want to keep your options open. You could still do a dual IR course, but not do the second flight test and associated acclimatisation flying. You would have to complete the training and second flight test within 18 months of the initial course. If you exceed this time limit you could do a CB-IR course at a later date which will allow you to be credited for the training already completed but it is likely to cost about £1,500 more than the budget mentioned above, as you will need about an additional 10 hours of simulator training.
Ground School Training and Exams
If you wish to sit both exams, it is important to choose a school that holds both UK and EASA approvals like Bristol Groundschool.
Bristol Groundschool students can sit both UK CAA and EASA exams while studying our courses. The course content, ground school and question bank are relevant to both sets of exams.
Most students following this route will complete the computer-based training, attend the revision course, and then sit the associated exams a week or so later. They will sit the UK CAA exams during a particular week and then duplicate those subjects with an EASA state of their choice during another week, or vice versa. This process is then repeated for the final two modules of the course.
Students will then hold both UK CAA and EASA theory passes, allowing them to move on to the practical training with a school of their choice.
Practical Flight Training
It does become a little more complicated when you get to your practical training.
You should select a school that holds the appropriate approvals for the licence you are looking to achieve. UK licence = UK CAA approval, EASA licence = EASA approval.
If you are planning to choose the dual licence route your school will need to hold both UK CAA and EASA approvals and have arrangements in place to conduct both skills tests.
There are also some complications with the IR skills test, the UK CAA has said this needs to be conducted in UK airspace. For this reason, it could cause complications if you train with a UK-approved school in Europe.
Is it worth it?
We have tried to be realistic about the additional costs – you may well find it is a little less. If you are unsure, the option to do everything but the IR may be the best bet for you. Is it worth it? Well, only you can answer that question. If you can afford it and want to keep all employment doors open, you may conclude that it is worth the additional expense and time. If you are on a tight budget, you may have to accept that some employers will be beyond your reach.
To summarise, if you wish to achieve both UK and EASA licences, Bristol Groundschool theory courses are relevant to both sets of exams. You will need to duplicate your exams with an EASA state as well as sitting them with the UK CAA. When it comes to your practical training you will need to ensure your chosen school holds the appropriate approvals for the licence you are aiming for and ensure you check the arrangements for the IR skills test.
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