Legalities of hiring out an aircraft

[Oxeagle]

Evening guys,
I have a question I was hoping some of you might be able to help me with.

Suppose a flying group wanted to hire out their aircraft to help contribute towards the costs. This group is either a PLC or LTD. Can they just go ahead and hire it out, is there anything else required (AOC etc) to make this venture legal?

Cheers,

Ox

[LysanderV8]

I believe I am right in saying that the aircraft must have either an EASA Standard CofA or a CAA Public Transport category CofA, and your insurance also needs to cover commercial use. The insurers may place restrictions on minimum hours P1, or total time or time on type or a combination.

Cheers

Lysander

[Oxeagle]

Cheers Lysander,
So assuming the aircraft has an EASA Standard C of A, apart from the insurance are there any other criteria that need to be met? Anyone have any idea how much extra the commercial insurance would be?

[LysanderV8]

For my aircraft I negotiated it down to an additional £220, so about 10% in my case. I agreed a restriction on 120 hours TT on type, but type is interpreted as any SEP by my insurer, and the time does not all have to be P1. The most important aspect to my mind is to ensure that you are happy with the pilots you allow to fly the aircraft, and you would probably want to conduct a check flight unless the pilot has recent experience in exactly the same aircraft type and model. I also hire out to defray some of the fixed costs, but also to put the aircraft where it ought to be more often. Aircraft don't like sitting around in the hangar and regular use is much better for it. Having said that, I am very selective about who flies it.

[Oxeagle]

Ok that's great, thanks for the information Lysander