Future UK pilot wanting to live and work in EU - UK CAA or EASA license?
 

Hi everyone, this is my first post here. I am actively looking at flight schools to get an ATPL.
I am wondering if anyone can give me advice on if I should aim for a UK CAA license of an EASA license. I am a UK citizen but ultimately dream of living and working in the EU as soon as possible.

My understanding is that it would make sense to go for the UK CAA license since I already have the right to live and work in the UK and so can get a job with a UK airline with no complications. Then I could transfer to an EASA license if I get a job offer with a European Airline and if I can achieve the right to live and work at the required European base. Anyone able to elaborate on or agree with this approach?
The only downfall I see is that transferring from UK CAA to EASA would require me to redo my initial medical with the appropriate EU member state.

Obviously I am at the start of this process and can't afford to be picky on what airline I want to fly for, but my dream is to work and live abroad and fly short haul around Europe so I would currently like to fly for Ryanair. Because of this, would it be more sensible to go for the EASA license in the hope to get a job with Ryanair or another European Airline straight away? Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
It would be good if there could be some sort of joint license between the UK CAA and EASA now that brexit has happened. Not sure if this is something that is under consideration by the aviation authorities....

Many thanks in advance.

If you don't have the right to live and work in an EU state, it would be worthwhile looking into what the requirements are to obtain the relevant rights. If it's not possible, a UK licence might be your only realistic option.

Currently you won’t find employment within the EU without an EU passport and usually a fluency in a local language.

It looks very much like commercial air travel is screwed for a very long time - perhaps irredeemably. A perfect storm of Brexit, Green taxes and now Covid will prevent the industry ever recovering to 2019 levels.

It may be prudent to pursue an alternative career?

But hey, at least you are British and not stuck in a deflating Eurozone! :ok:

I have been through the SOLI (State of License Issue) process a few times now and it's not too bad - you will be waiting a good couple of months for the transfer and it'll cost you around £500+ but it's not the end of the world. I wouldn't worry too much about what license you go for right now, but having the right to live and work in the EU is your biggest hurdle! If you get a job with an EU carrier and have a CAA license, allowances are commonly made for the SOLI transfer and it will usually run alongside your type rating (if you need one).

Further to that, Ryanair or EasyJet would be your best option out of flight school as it is common practice to have UK guys working in one of their many EU bases, but again this falls down to your right to live and work in that country.

Hope that helps!

Some important points have been missed by everyone.

An EASA license issued after 01/01/21 will not have the automatic right to a UK Part FCL license and will have to retake all exams and flight tests to obtain a UK Part FCL license (under the current agreements). Like wise a UK Part FCL license can no longer be change of SOLI to an EASA license, it will have to be converted with Exams and flight test.

Easyjet have I believe 60 percent of the fleet on the G Reg based in the UK. The UK two year validation of EASA license only applies to license issued before 01/01/21 and the validation ceases to be valid after 2022. So after 2022 as it stands at the moment to fly G Reg will require a UK Part FCL license.

On top of that the chances of getting a visa to fly for an EU carrier will be next to zero in the next few years due to a surplus of pilots in the EU, and even when the UK was in EASA there were far more mainland EU pilots flying in the UK, than UK pilots flying in the mainland EU. Language fluency requirements of most mainland EU operators stopped UK Pilots working for those carriers anyway.

As a UK national he/she/whatever they identify as won't have the right to work in EU, so other than Ryanair an EASA license wont be that useful. Even working for Ryanair they will be limited to UK or an Irish base.

There are schools that allow you to train for both the UK and the EASA license side by side (FTA at Shoreham), that is probably the best option to go for, it involves sitting the exams twice (UK and EASA).

The syllabi are, for now, identical. My advice would be:-

- Whichever PPL suits you
- Study once
- Two medicals, but there are examiners who are dual approved so can do that in one go, you just pay twice.
- Hourbuild once
- Find a school with both UK and EASA approvals
- Take two sets of exams (painful, but you only need to study once, as I said)
- Take one flying course
- Do your tests with an examiner with both UK and EASA approvals

Job done, you now have the ability to fly in both the UK and EASAland.

This, of-course, assumes you have the relevant work permissions. If you don't, just train and qualify where you can work.

most job opportunity in europe asks EU passports.

Right now is a bad time to try to predict anything in all honesty. What is good now may not be good beyond 2022. As Ports has rightly pointed out, an EASA licence beyond 2022 for anyone with a UK only passport may not be such a good idea. Ryanair would be the obvious choice however things remain unsolved between them and the UK CAA over their UK AOC. Wet lease rules means they are well short and the vice will get tighter come 2023.