As expected the CAA supertanker continues on its doomed course. They seem to miss the point that their current strategy will lead to less, not more, revenue to themselves over time.
This then will require them to raise charges again, and another area of the UK aviation industry will fall away. Someone at the CAA needs to fight the DoT and the government with regard to the way they are funded.
I bet I could save them all the revenue they'll make from these reforms by making some changes to their underlying business costs!
Still, we do now have an answer as to why CPL license charges are that much higher. Apparently:
While the procedure to issue a type rating for a helicopter CPL compared to a PPL is broadly the same, there are additional costs surrounding the policy development of the professional licence built into the professional charges that place the type rating charge for a CPL higher than that for a PPL.
PPL - Back of a fag packet. CPL - A4 pad bought from W H Smiths!
Time to move to an F reg I think....