UK ATPL Situation
The CAA validation for EASA licences expires at the end of 2022. It is possible this may be extended but there is no sign of this happening, so you should plan on needing a UK licence to fly G reg wef 1/1/23.
Join Date: May 2012
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 39
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I am coming to the end of my training and decided to train for both a UK and EASA licence at the same time. Here has been my experience of this route.
I completed my ATPL exams with Austro in Dec 2020 (studied with BGS), just before the cut off date and changed my SOLI to IAA so I held an Irish PPL(A). I was then reissued a UK PPL in July 21 meaning I held two PPLs. This process probably cost me circa £600-800 with all the various application fees.
I completed CPL training at a UK ATO with EASA approval and made sure all my instructors held a UK and Irish licence with the correct privileges. I did a single CPL skills test in August 21 with a examiner with both UK and EASA (Danish) privileges. This cost me an extra £150 on top of the £826 UK test fee to do the two tests at the same time.
In addition to the £250 UK CPL licence issue fee, I had to pay €450 for the issue of the Irish CPL.
MEP was done at the same ATO and again the training was valid for the issue of both a UK and Irish MEP and I did a single test with a UK/Irish examiner and for a single fee. In addition to the £143 fee to add a rating to my UK CPL, I had to pay €250 to have the rating added to my Irish CPL.
I have been undertaking MEIR training at the same ATO and again my training counts towards the issue of both a UK and EASA licence. I will soon be attempting my MEIR skills test but I cannot combine these and so have to complete two separate skills test as the EASA test must be done in EASA airspace and the UK within UK airspace (a rule introduced into EASA by the UK CAA no less!). Therefore, I will have to pay to hire a twin for two hours (circa £1000), plus the approach fees (£60-100) twice! This means I can do a skills test in the UK and one in EASA airspace (France). In addition to the £826 UK test fee, I will have to pay an EASA test fee of around £250. I will also have to pay two rating fees meaning an additional €250.
All in all, I believe that gaining an EASA fATPL at the same time as a UK one will have cost me an extra £3000 that I did not budget for when I started my training in April 2019. For that £3000, I hold the same privileges had the UK remained within EASA and so I am no better off, just out of pocket. Sadly with some airlines requiring a UK licence and others (such as Ryanair) requiring an EASA one, in my opinion, UK pilots really need both licences to maximise their chances of employment during what will undoubtedly be a very challenging period for newly-trained pilots.
Good luck to those of you starting your training. With Brexit and Covid-19, there has not been a more a challenging time to train and I don't envy anyone having to choose UK vs EASA when there is no indication as to what the future holds and no engagement from the CAA.
I completed my ATPL exams with Austro in Dec 2020 (studied with BGS), just before the cut off date and changed my SOLI to IAA so I held an Irish PPL(A). I was then reissued a UK PPL in July 21 meaning I held two PPLs. This process probably cost me circa £600-800 with all the various application fees.
I completed CPL training at a UK ATO with EASA approval and made sure all my instructors held a UK and Irish licence with the correct privileges. I did a single CPL skills test in August 21 with a examiner with both UK and EASA (Danish) privileges. This cost me an extra £150 on top of the £826 UK test fee to do the two tests at the same time.
In addition to the £250 UK CPL licence issue fee, I had to pay €450 for the issue of the Irish CPL.
MEP was done at the same ATO and again the training was valid for the issue of both a UK and Irish MEP and I did a single test with a UK/Irish examiner and for a single fee. In addition to the £143 fee to add a rating to my UK CPL, I had to pay €250 to have the rating added to my Irish CPL.
I have been undertaking MEIR training at the same ATO and again my training counts towards the issue of both a UK and EASA licence. I will soon be attempting my MEIR skills test but I cannot combine these and so have to complete two separate skills test as the EASA test must be done in EASA airspace and the UK within UK airspace (a rule introduced into EASA by the UK CAA no less!). Therefore, I will have to pay to hire a twin for two hours (circa £1000), plus the approach fees (£60-100) twice! This means I can do a skills test in the UK and one in EASA airspace (France). In addition to the £826 UK test fee, I will have to pay an EASA test fee of around £250. I will also have to pay two rating fees meaning an additional €250.
All in all, I believe that gaining an EASA fATPL at the same time as a UK one will have cost me an extra £3000 that I did not budget for when I started my training in April 2019. For that £3000, I hold the same privileges had the UK remained within EASA and so I am no better off, just out of pocket. Sadly with some airlines requiring a UK licence and others (such as Ryanair) requiring an EASA one, in my opinion, UK pilots really need both licences to maximise their chances of employment during what will undoubtedly be a very challenging period for newly-trained pilots.
Good luck to those of you starting your training. With Brexit and Covid-19, there has not been a more a challenging time to train and I don't envy anyone having to choose UK vs EASA when there is no indication as to what the future holds and no engagement from the CAA.
Last edited by 4535jacks; 10th Jan 2022 at 12:55.
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Bristol, England
Age: 65
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the EASA test must be done in EASA airspace and the UK within UK airspace
