Flying friends and family for free

If your passengers pay nothing at all, you aren't sharing costs, but you aren't completely outside the cost-sharing rules either. For non-Part-21 aircraft, the ANO's route for a free flight to count as non-commercial still requires the cost-sharing criteria, including the passenger declaration. For Part-21 aircraft, the sources don't settle the point, so the cautious approach is the same: treat the flight as if the cost-sharing conditions apply.

Whatever the aircraft, you still owe your passengers a safety briefing, and you need to be careful with gifts and favours, which can count as payment.

Which rules apply depends on the aircraft

There are two parallel sets of rules. Part-21 aircraft (most certified light aeroplanes and helicopters) are covered by UK Reg (EU) 965/2012. Non-Part-21 aircraft (permit aircraft, most microlights and other Annex I aircraft) are covered by the Air Navigation Order 2016. CAP 1590 (guidance), paras 6 and 7, explains the split.

Non-Part-21 aircraft: ANO art. 13

ANO 2016 art. 13(1) says:

A flight is a non-commercial flight if— (a) there has been no valuable consideration or the only valuable consideration given or promised for the flight to the pilot by the passengers is a contribution to the direct costs of the flight otherwise payable by the pilot in command; and (b) the criteria in paragraph (2) are satisfied.

The words "there has been no valuable consideration" cover a free flight. But the two limbs are joined by "and": the criteria in paragraph (2) also have to be satisfied. Those criteria include no more than six people including the pilot, the flight being operated by a private individual, no pilot employed or contracted for the flight, passengers being "clearly advised that the flight does not meet the same safety standards as a Commercial Air Transport (CAT) or Public Transport (PT) flight", and a signed record for each passenger "completed prior to the flight" and kept for six months (art. 13(2)(a) to (h)).

So if you rely on art. 13 to make a free flight non-commercial, you need to meet all of paragraph (2), including the declarations.

The legislation and CAA guidance cited here don't include the ANO's definitions of public transport and commercial operation, so they don't tell us whether a free flight that misses one of the paragraph (2) criteria is commercial for some other reason. Because that is unclear, the cautious approach is to meet the paragraph (2) criteria anyway.

Part-21 aircraft: the derogation is about contributions

The cost-sharing derogation in UK Reg (EU) 965/2012 Art. 6(4a)(a) applies "on condition that the only remuneration or other valuable consideration given or promised for the flight to the pilot by the passengers is a contribution towards the direct costs of the flight". It is written for flights where passengers contribute, and it has no equivalent of the ANO's "no valuable consideration" wording.

The definitions point the same way. A commercial operation is one "in return for remuneration or other valuable consideration" (Art. 2(1d)), and CAP 1590 (guidance), para 4, says a passenger flight "for which remuneration (payment) or other valuable consideration has been made, is defined as a Commercial Air Transport (CAT) flight." A genuinely free flight has neither.

What the sources don't do is say in so many words whether NCO.GEN.102 applies to a flight with no contribution at all. Because that is unclear, and because getting a declaration costs little, the cautious approach is to treat a free passenger flight in a Part-21 aircraft the same way: advise passengers about the safety standards and get their signed declaration before the flight.

Pilot passengers

Recording and acceptance of safety standards "is not required for passengers who hold or have held a pilot's licence proved to the satisfaction of the pilot-in-command" (AMC1 NCO.GEN.102(g)(b); CAP 1590, para 20). See sharing costs with another pilot.

Gifts and favours can count as payment

"Free" has to mean free. CAP 1590 (guidance), para 40, defines valuable consideration as:

any right, interest, profit or benefit, forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility accruing, given, suffered or undertaken under an agreement, which is of more than a nominal nature.

That goes well beyond cash. A benefit in kind that you agree to in return for the flight, and that is worth more than a nominal amount, can be valuable consideration. Examples might be a friend paying your hangarage, giving you a meal out, or doing work for you in exchange.

Once there is valuable consideration, the flight isn't free any more. The only consideration either set of rules allows from passengers is "a contribution to the direct costs of the flight otherwise payable by the pilot in command" (ANO art. 13(1)(a)), up to an equal share. A favour that isn't a contribution to fuel, oil, airfield charges or market-rate rental doesn't fit within that, and anything beyond the direct costs is covered by NCO.GEN.102(b): "All costs other than direct costs must be paid by the pilot with no contribution from the passengers."

The CAA's cost sharing web page mentions gifts alongside money. It says that if a flight doesn't take place, "no remuneration (money or exchange of gifts) should be exchanged between the pilot and passengers."

The sources don't draw the line between a nominal thank-you and something that counts. A small, unplanned gesture after the flight is a different thing from a benefit agreed in advance, but if in doubt, don't accept it, or treat it as a contribution and keep it within the passenger's equal share. See who pays what and can a PPL charge passengers.

The briefing applies on every flight

Whether passengers pay or not, the passenger briefing is a legal requirement. For Part-21 aircraft, NCO.OP.130 says: "The pilot-in-command shall ensure that before or, where appropriate, during the flight, passengers are given a briefing on emergency equipment and procedures." For non-Part-21 aircraft, ANO 2016 art. 73(1) uses almost identical words.

Family members who have flown with you before still need it. The CAA's Safety Sense Leaflet 02 says "Some passengers may be familiar with light aircraft operations, however you should always give reminders where appropriate, and the legal requirement for a passenger safety briefing always applies." See giving a passenger briefing for what to cover.

Children

Family flights often include children. For a passenger who needs to sign a declaration and is under 18, AMC1 NCO.GEN.102(g)(d) says the risks "should" be accepted on their behalf "by an individual who has legal authority to make decisions for that person". CAP 1590, para 22, says the same.

Before you fly

• Decide whether anyone is giving you anything for the flight, in cash or in kind.
• If they are, treat it as cost sharing: direct costs only, no more than an equal share each.
• If they aren't, keep to six people including you and to your licence limits.
• Advise passengers that the flight doesn't meet CAT safety standards and, as the cautious approach, get a signed declaration from each non-pilot passenger before the flight. Split My Flight collects these online at no cost, or you can use the printable passenger declaration form.
• Give the passenger briefing.