I was putting together an AOC for A to A for primary photography.
The restrictions for A to A pleasure flying are quite restrictive for not only routes flown but also training, qualifications and also FTL's. And never mind the amount of paper work and changes to maint practises this all generates.
If the whole industry was forced to put in place A to A regulations you would quite quickly see the death of trial flights. You are looking at at least 700-800 pounds of training intially and 200 quid a year afterwards for ground training and about 200 quid every 6 months to keep the pilots current.
I personally think the CAA have been waiting to clamp down on this for years. But some how nobody has had an accident with a trial flight onboard and now they have other things to worry about with control being slowly handed over the water.
MJ