PPL(A): privileges, passengers and recency

A Part-FCL PPL(A) lets you act, without pay, as pilot in command or co-pilot of aeroplanes or touring motor gliders (TMGs) in non-commercial operations, within the class and type ratings on your licence. You can carry passengers once you meet the 90-day recency rule in FCL.060, and you can share costs with up to five passengers under the cost-sharing rules.

This page covers the Part-FCL licence issued under UK Regulation (EU) 1178/2011 (the "Aircrew Regulation"). The ANO 2016 also has a UK national Private Pilot's Licence (Aeroplanes) for non-Part-21 aircraft, which is mentioned briefly below.

Privileges

FCL.205.A(a) says:

"The privileges of the holders of a PPL(A) are to act without remuneration as PIC or co-pilots of aeroplanes or TMGs engaged in non-commercial operations and to exercise all privileges of holders of an LAPL(A)."

The only paid work allowed is instruction and examining. Under FCL.205.A(b), a PPL(A) holder with instructor or examiner privileges may receive remuneration for "the provision of flight instruction for the LAPL(A) , PPL(A), whether issued under this Regulation or The Air Navigation Order 2016, or National Private Pilot's Licence (Aeroplanes) ('NPPL(A)') issued under that Order", for skill tests and proficiency checks for those licences, and for training, testing and checking for their ratings and certificates.

Part-FCL sets no mass or persons limit on the PPL(A) itself. What you can fly is set by your class and type ratings, and since 1 October 2025 FCL.705(b) also lets an SEP holder fly an aeroplane with a single electric or hybrid propulsion unit, provided "the power unit is operated by a single thrust control", no type rating has been established and the CAA's differences training has been completed.

UK national PPL(A)

The ANO version (ANO 2016 Sch. 8 Pt 1 Ch 2, s. 1) covers non-Part-21 aeroplanes. It allows commercial operation only for instruction, flying examinations, or "where the excepted flights condition is met", which ANO Sch. 8 Pt 1 Ch 1 para 3(2) defines as "a flight of the type mentioned in article 6(4a)" of the Air Operations Regulation. Cost-shared flights are one of those types.

Carrying passengers

There's no PPL-specific passenger condition. FCL.060(b) applies:

"A pilot shall not operate an aircraft in commercial air transport or to carry passengers:

(1) as PIC or co-pilot unless he/she has carried out, in the preceding 90 days, at least 3 take-offs, approaches and landings in an aircraft of the same type or class or an FFS representing that type or class. [...]

(2) as PIC at night unless he/she:

(i) has carried out in the preceding 90 days at least 1 take-off, approach and landing at night as a pilot flying in an aircraft of the same type or class or an FFS representing that type or class; or

(ii) holds an IR;"

Your class rating must also be valid. If you've been away from the aircraft, three circuits on your own fixes the day rule. For night passengers you need a night rating as well as the night recency.

For a cost-sharing flight the cap is six persons including the pilot (NCO.GEN.102(a); ANO art. 13(2)(a)). In practice, seats and weight and balance usually limit you first.

Keeping the licence valid

The licence doesn't expire, but your class ratings do. FCL.740(a)(1) sets "2 years" for single-pilot single-engine class ratings. FCL.740.A(b)(1) gives two ways to revalidate an SEP or TMG rating:

"(i) within the 3 months preceding the expiry date of the rating, pass a proficiency check in the relevant class in accordance with Appendix 9 to this Part with an examiner; or

(ii) within the validity period of the rating as set out in FCL.740(a), complete 12 hours of flight time in the relevant class, including:

— 6 hours during the 12 months preceding the expiry date of the rating,

— 6 hours as PIC,

— 12 take-offs and 12 landings, and

— refresher training of at least 1 hour of total flight time with a flight instructor (FI) or a class rating instructor (CRI). [...]"

If you hold both SEP (land) and TMG, FCL.740.A(b)(2) lets you meet these in either class "or a combination thereof, and achieve revalidation of both ratings". If you fail part of a proficiency check before expiry, FCL.740.A(c) says you "shall not exercise the privileges of that rating until a pass in the proficiency check has been achieved".

If the rating lapses, renewal under FCL.740(b) means an assessment, any refresher training found necessary, then a proficiency check. For a non-high-performance SEP or TMG rating that expired "no more than 3 years ago", the assessment can be done at a DTO, an ATO or with an instructor (FCL.740(b)(1)(iii)).

Night, IMC and other ratings

To fly at night you need the night rating in FCL.810(a): a course at a DTO or ATO within up to 6 months, with theoretical knowledge instruction and "at least 5 hours of flight time in the appropriate aircraft category at night, including at least 3 hours of dual instruction, including at least 1 hour of cross-country navigation with at least one dual cross-country flight of at least 50 km (27 NM) and 5 solo take-offs and 5 solo full-stop landings." MED.A.030(d) requires you to be "colour safe". The CAA describes the night rating as "non-expiring".

The UK national PPL(A) can carry an instrument meteorological conditions rating (ANO Sch. 8 Pt 1 Ch 2 s. 1 para (1)(d)). The instrument rating rules for the Part-FCL PPL are outside the scope of this page.

Medical

MED.A.030(c)(2) says that for a PPL "the pilot shall hold at least a valid class 2 medical certificate (except where the pilot is exercising the privileges of a LAPL in respect of aircraft other than turbine engine helicopters, in which case the pilot shall hold at least a valid class 2 medical certificate or have made a medical declaration)".

ANO 2016 art. 162 lets a Part-FCL holder fly on a medical declaration made under art. 163(3), provided they comply with art. 163(5). That paragraph limits you to an aircraft of 5,700 kg or less, "not more than three passengers on board", by day or with a night rating, in VMC or with an IMC rating, and within the UK unless you have the other state's permission.

The CAA's medical page adds that Part-FCL PPL holders "can only make a pilot medical declaration to the at or less than 2000kg MTOM criteria as they are limited to the privileges of the LAPL". On a Pilot Medical Declaration (PMD), then, plan on LAPL limits: SEP or TMG, 2,000 kg or less, three passengers.

Class 2 validity (MED.A.045(a)(3)) is 60 months until age 40, 24 months between 40 and 50, and 12 months over 50, with the cut-off rules for certificates issued before age 40 and 50.

Getting the licence

FCL.210.A(a) requires "at least 40 hours of flight time as a pilot, appropriate to the class rating sought, in aeroplanes or TMGs, 5 of which may have been completed in an FSTD", including dual instruction as needed for the skill test and "10 hours of supervised solo flight time, including at least 5 hours of solo cross-country flight time with at least 1 cross-country flight of at least 270 km (150 NM)", with full-stop landings at two other aerodromes. FCL.210.A(b) allows 35 hours on an approved ATO course. The CAA gives the minimum age as 17 and lists nine theoretical knowledge exams.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

SI 2025/878 amended Part-FCL from 1 October 2025:

• Hours for issue: FCL.210.A(a) went from "at least 45 hours of flight instruction" (25 dual) to at least 40 hours of flight time, with the 35-hour ATO route added. The old LAPL(A)-holder route in FCL.210.A(b) was replaced.
• Revalidation: FCL.740.A(b)(1)(ii) used to require the 12 hours "within the 12 months preceding the expiry date". Now they can be spread over the validity period, with 6 hours in the final 12 months. CAP 3155 (CAA guidance) puts it as "up to 6 of the required 12 flight hours may now be flown in the first year of validity". FCL.740.A(b)(5), on combining the check with a BIR revalidation, was omitted.
• Instructor pay: FCL.205.A(b) now covers instruction for the ANO PPL(A) and NPPL(A).
• Electric SEP: FCL.705(b) was added.

For 2026, the CAA says further amendments are "planned for the summer of 2026". When this guide was last checked (17 October 2026), legislation.gov.uk showed no 2026 SI amending the Part-FCL licence or rating points. Check for any later SI before relying on this.

Cost sharing on this licence

A cost-shared flight is a non-commercial flight under Air Operations Regulation art. 6(4a)(a) if it meets NCO.GEN.102. For non-Part-21 aircraft the equivalent is ANO 2016 art. 13. The main points:

• No more than six persons, including the pilot (NCO.GEN.102(a)). See the six-person limit.
• Passengers' contributions are capped at "the total direct costs divided equally by the number of persons carried (including the pilot)" (NCO.GEN.102(c)), and the pilot pays all other costs (NCO.GEN.102(b)). CAP 1590 (guidance), para 27, says the pilot's own contribution "must not be less than" that equal share.
• Each passenger must be told the flight doesn't meet CAT safety standards, and must sign a declaration before the flight. You keep the declaration for 6 months (NCO.GEN.102(f)-(h)). A passenger who holds or has held a pilot's licence needs no signed record (AMC1 NCO.GEN.102(g)). See passenger declarations and records and giving a passenger briefing.

If you fly on a PMD, the LAPL limit of three passengers applies, not five. Split My Flight collects each passenger's signed declaration online before the flight and keeps the record for you. For how the limits compare across licences, see cost sharing by licence.