Originally Posted by
Mister Geezer
With the pilot obviously being excluded, would it be permissible for costs of the flight to be shared equally among the passengers carried, who would be business acquaintances and if so, can someone point me to a reference document?
No.
Air Ops regulation Art 6(4a).
By way of derogation from Article 5(1) and (6), the following operations with other-than complex motor-powered aeroplanes and heli*copters, balloons and sailplanes may be conducted in accordance with [Part-NCO]:
(a) cost-shared flights by private individuals, on the condition that the direct cost is shared by all the occupants of the aircraft, pilot included and the number of persons sharing the direct costs is limited to six;
A VLJ is a complex motor-powered aeroplane.