Are UK airlines pushing for the UK CAA to recognise EASA licences.
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From: Yorkshire
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 359
Likes: 221
From: Yorkshire
Hi,
I've heard rumours about the UK CAA recognising EASA Licences in the near future (2026), ... I am currently based in the Europe and have the right to work in Both the UK and Europe, however I only have a EASA Licence and would like to be based in the UK, and therefore feel as though I may be too hopeful when hearing these rumours. Therefore I wanted to ask the community If they have heard any news regarding this.
I've heard rumours about the UK CAA recognising EASA Licences in the near future (2026), ... I am currently based in the Europe and have the right to work in Both the UK and Europe, however I only have a EASA Licence and would like to be based in the UK, and therefore feel as though I may be too hopeful when hearing these rumours. Therefore I wanted to ask the community If they have heard any news regarding this.
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From: Edinburgh
and that would have been completely non-problematic, as the CAA was, is, and will continue to operate in close alignment with EASA aviation standards, seeing as it helped to create the vast majority of them when it was a member of EASA, and because a lot of them are seen as 'best practice'. A similar arrangement works perfectly well for Norway and Switzerland...
or, you know, we could have ignored the non-binding vote that only half the country participated in and just stayed as a major player in the rule making of the EU... but I digress....
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From: IRS NAV ONLY
I agree, it's now much more efficient, copy-pasting EASA regulations with a few years of delay, and including "refer to [relevant] EASA manual" in them.
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From: Perpetually circling OCK for some reason
This would be great also for an (admittedly small) subset of British pilots who trained outside the UK but were unable to qualify in time to take advantage of the transition period to obtain UK CAA licenses without the financial, time and huge effort hit of having to retake basically the entirety of an ATPL licensing course. As one such person, the only benefit of the current situation that I can see is that the CAA get to charge me a large amount of money in exam and admin fees if I ever want to operate a G-reg aircraft commercially, despite the fact that I currently operate EASA reg aircraft commercially out of the UK.
Some people will bleat about how the CAA recognizing EASA licenses gives unfair advantage to Europeans holding them, but does it? Surely the control of labour should be through employment visas, not professional licenses. Any lack of enough British pilots to fill airline positions is almost entirely a result of the prohibitive cost of training in the UK to get a CAA license. The CAA being able to issue a like for like license on the basis of holding an EASA one would allow more Brits to train more cost effectively in Europe, then come back to work in the UK, without having to worry about the cost of "dual licensing" courses.
Some people will bleat about how the CAA recognizing EASA licenses gives unfair advantage to Europeans holding them, but does it? Surely the control of labour should be through employment visas, not professional licenses. Any lack of enough British pilots to fill airline positions is almost entirely a result of the prohibitive cost of training in the UK to get a CAA license. The CAA being able to issue a like for like license on the basis of holding an EASA one would allow more Brits to train more cost effectively in Europe, then come back to work in the UK, without having to worry about the cost of "dual licensing" courses.
Not a Brexit fan at all, but let’s not pretend that the tightening of pilot supply in the UK that it has caused (both through right to work and licensing) has done anything other than improve things for the vast majority of low hour or aspiring pilots in the UK.
Last edited by Speed_Trim_Fail; 21st May 2025 at 13:35.
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From: Edinburgh
The UK currently has 4 fully funded schemes for cadets, which arguably provides the ultimate affordable route in to aviation.
Not a Brexit fan at all, but let’s not pretend that the tightening of pilot supply in the UK that it has caused (both through right to work and licensing) has done anything other than improve things for the vast majority of low hour or aspiring pilots in the UK.
Not a Brexit fan at all, but let’s not pretend that the tightening of pilot supply in the UK that it has caused (both through right to work and licensing) has done anything other than improve things for the vast majority of low hour or aspiring pilots in the UK.
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From: Perpetually circling OCK for some reason
So if you're one of the lucky 100 or so out of 22,000 (for the Speedbird Academy), your costs are covered... the chances of getting your training costs fully funded by an airline are still vanisingly small... lets not pretend the tightening of supply has suddenly turned the UK into a land of milk and honey for the vast majority of aspiring pilots in the UK.
The UK isn’t some panacea, but it seems a lot better right now than it has been for many many years in terms of funded schemes.
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From: Edinburgh
The UK CAA issues, what, about 1200 CPLs a year? Speedbird Academy is 200 places in 2025, TUI are taking 30, Jet2 are hoping for 60, I’ve no idea what DHL UK aim for so I’ll say 10 for round figures, but nearly 300 fully funded places is 25% of the current CPLs issued annually in the UK.
The UK isn’t some panacea, but it seems a lot better right now than it has been for many many years in terms of funded schemes.
The UK isn’t some panacea, but it seems a lot better right now than it has been for many many years in terms of funded schemes.
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From: Wiltshire
….yes, it seems so, but that just reflects that a UK licence is not valuable or desirable any more, as it limits an individual to a small number of employers on one miserable rock in the east Atlantic. On that rock, the vast majority of airliners are registered elsewhere, regardless of where they actually roost at night. Brexit benefit indeed.
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From: Vietnam
….yes, it seems so, but that just reflects that a UK licence is not valuable or desirable any more, as it limits an individual to a small number of employers on one miserable rock in the east Atlantic. On that rock, the vast majority of airliners are registered elsewhere, regardless of where they actually roost at night. Brexit benefit indeed.
Very few licenses are useful once you leave that country. As I said you can't work in the EU so I don't know what you are angry about.
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From: Yorkshire
….yes, it seems so, but that just reflects that a UK licence is not valuable or desirable any more, as it limits an individual to a small number of employers on one miserable rock in the east Atlantic. On that rock, the vast majority of airliners are registered elsewhere, regardless of where they actually roost at night. Brexit benefit indeed.
A "small number of employers"?? In one of the world's largest airline industries? (The third largest?)
Please give evidence of "the vast majority of airliners are registered elsewhere". You won't be able to, because your claim is nonsense.
Speed_Trim_Fail has made it clear about the large demand (need?) that there is for pilots in Britain and all of those jobs are for British licenced pilots on British registered aeroplanes.
It appears very much that pilots are wanting British licences, because this is where the jobs are.
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From: Yorkshire
As someone who has been through the entire process of resitting all the exams and redoing flight tests to gain a licence in another country (with almost identical syllabi), the advice that I can give to anyone wanting a UK CAA licence is to knuckle down, get studying and do the hard work needed for the exams and flight tests to gain that licence. If you want that job, it is worth the effort. I know, I have done so.
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From: Amsterdam
As someone who has been through the entire process of resitting all the exams and redoing flight tests to gain a licence in another country (with almost identical syllabi), the advice that I can give to anyone wanting a UK CAA licence is to knuckle down, get studying and do the hard work needed for the exams and flight tests to gain that licence. If you want that job, it is worth the effort. I know, I have done so.
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From: Edinburgh
As someone who has been through the entire process of resitting all the exams and redoing flight tests to gain a licence in another country (with almost identical syllabi), the advice that I can give to anyone wanting a UK CAA licence is to knuckle down, get studying and do the hard work needed for the exams and flight tests to gain that licence. If you want that job, it is worth the effort. I know, I have done so.
Here's the thing, I already fly a CS25 narrow-body jet all around Europe based out of the UK, on an EASA license. I already have the job. The CAA is just telling me that I can't have that job on a G-reg aircraft, without requalifying, which is frankly absurd.
Beyond that, I wouldn't have the job if it hadn't been for the fact that prices to train in many parts of Europe are significantly lower than the UK, so I have great sympathy for the aspiring pilots not lucky enough to score a fully funded scholarship who have to find alternate ways of funding their training in the frankly hostile to anyone but the very wealthy or incredibly healthy credit rating world of the UK training ecosystem.
No job is worth this effort anymore. Why would I waste my time and money and resit 13 ATPL exams which are of the exact same syllabus than the EASA ones? And then they want me to sit some flight tests when I have flown an airliner for over 10 years. Money grabbing c words!
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From: Edinburgh
So much so that BA and Virgin are willing to sponsor visas for pilots coming from outside of the UK, if they are able to get a UK license, which could be through any of the routes, some of which are significantly easier than others, just by virtue of when you happened to sit your ATPL exams and take your skills tests for the CPL and IR.... note, not through any regulatory or curricula/standards differences, just an arbitary date. Why should it be easy and cheap for some, and difficult and expensive for others? And how does the above situation help British pilots secure jobs in the UK, when airlines are happy and can presumably show cause to apply for visas for non-nationals?
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From: UK
Cut off our nose…..
and that would have been completely non-problematic, as the CAA was, is, and will continue to operate in close alignment with EASA aviation standards, seeing as it helped to create the vast majority of them when it was a member of EASA, and because a lot of them are seen as 'best practice'. A similar arrangement works perfectly well for Norway and Switzerland...
or, you know, we could have ignored the non-binding vote that only half the country participated in and just stayed as a major player in the rule making of the EU... but I digress....
or, you know, we could have ignored the non-binding vote that only half the country participated in and just stayed as a major player in the rule making of the EU... but I digress....
No one thought through or in many cases had zero idea of the implications We can’t accept pilots, maintained parts or part 66 licences from EASA.
Operators who split fleets in an effort to manage the issues, managing frames with a G and EASA reg; Now because of ongoing logistics issues, where parts were regularly moved between frames, now it’s impossible, removing flexibility, adding time and cost, it can be done but it involves more bureaucracy and cost, not for safeties sake, it’s only for compliances’ sake. Companies like TUI, where in the past frames could be shifted anywhere within EASA land to support a program, this now can’t happen without a re-registration, the number of CofA’s to facilitate this, has gone through the roof.
Brexit truly keeps on giving.
Thread Starter
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From: Netherlands
Thanks for your spirited contribution — your unwavering faith in British aviation independence has certainly taken centre stage.
To clarify, there’s no shortage of pilot jobs in the Netherlands or across Europe. I started this thread simply to ask if anyone had heard updates on whether the UK CAA might reconsider recognising EASA licences — not to spark a referendum-style debate on sovereignty or the virtues of going it alone.
That said, if we must touch on Brexit’s impact: the goal, as I understood it, was to strengthen domestic capability and keep things “in-house.” Yet, both the BA Speedbird Academy and Jet2’s Flightpath programme are sending cadets to train at FTE Jerez in Spain — apparently a more viable option than anything currently offered in the “world-leading” UK.
Leaving EASA has also made the UK a less attractive place for aircraft registration. Unsurprisingly, airlines prefer the benefits of a harmonised system over the charm of regulatory isolation. This shift reduces opportunities for the UK in areas like maintenance, inspections, and tax revenue — but at least we’ve reclaimed control.
In short, I was after licensing news, not a nationalism masterclass — though the detour has been enlightening.
To clarify, there’s no shortage of pilot jobs in the Netherlands or across Europe. I started this thread simply to ask if anyone had heard updates on whether the UK CAA might reconsider recognising EASA licences — not to spark a referendum-style debate on sovereignty or the virtues of going it alone.
That said, if we must touch on Brexit’s impact: the goal, as I understood it, was to strengthen domestic capability and keep things “in-house.” Yet, both the BA Speedbird Academy and Jet2’s Flightpath programme are sending cadets to train at FTE Jerez in Spain — apparently a more viable option than anything currently offered in the “world-leading” UK.
Leaving EASA has also made the UK a less attractive place for aircraft registration. Unsurprisingly, airlines prefer the benefits of a harmonised system over the charm of regulatory isolation. This shift reduces opportunities for the UK in areas like maintenance, inspections, and tax revenue — but at least we’ve reclaimed control.
In short, I was after licensing news, not a nationalism masterclass — though the detour has been enlightening.
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From: Monrovia / Liberia
Obtaining a UK CAA License (on the back of ones 'foreign' license) is one thing... but also required is the right to live & work in the UK (assuming that's where the G reg aircraft that one's going to fly is based) and obtaining the former does not, necessarily, beget the latter.