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New EU Regulations come into effect on the 8th April 2012 which will impact on holders of pilot licences. The Regulations are known as Part FCL, Part Med, Part ARA and Part OR and come under the EU Basic Regulation 216/2008.

The regulations have not yet been published by the EU Commission, however based on the mature draft documents available to the Authority the following are the key points.

1. All pilots flying aircraft registered in an EU Member State are required to have an EU Part FCL licence except for those flying State aircraft and "Annex II" aircraft. Annex II refers to Annex II of EU Regulation 216/2008 and essentially includes microlights, home built aircraft, experimental/ research aircraft and vintage aircraft. Some activity with Annex II aircraft will require that the pilot holds EU Part FCL licence
2. All current JAR FCL licences are deemed to be Part FCL licences on the 8th April 2012 and over a 5 year period the Authority is obliged to re-issue all JAR FCL licences as Part FCL licences. This will be done by the Authority on a phased basis as licences are submitted for licensing action.
3. Part FCL licenses are non-expiring, however ratings continue to have an expiry period.
4. Part FCL licences will be accepted without further technical requirements or evaluation throughout the European Union.
5. For holders of some ratings such as an SEP land rating, a complexity has been added to the system in that some aircraft covered by the rating are now deemed to be Annex II aircraft and outside the scope of the Part FCL licence. The Authority is working to try and minimise the impact of this change and will update the website when a decision is taken on how best to deal with this issue.
6. New ratings are introduced for aerobatic flying, sailplane towing mountain flying and banner towing.
7. A new licence known as the Light Aircraft Pilots Licence (LAPL) comes into effect on 8th April for those pilots wishing to fly leisure aircraft only. A less demanding medical standard applies to this licence.
8. Any person who meets the technical specifications set out in Part FCL to become an Examiner can apply to the Authority and be issued with an Examiner Certificate. Existing IAA authorised examiners and JAR FCL TREs are deemed to hold EU examiner certificates on 8th April 2012.
9. Glider pilots will be required to hold a Part FCL sailplane licence. The Authority is working with the IGSA to prepare a conversion report for EASA to identify what additional elements are needed, if any, for existing glider pilots to obtain an EU Part FCL licence.
10. Balloon pilots are required to hold a Part FCL Balloon licence. The Authority is working with the Balloon Associations to prepare a conversion report for EASA to identify what additional elements are needed, if any, for existing balloon pilots to obtain an EU Part FCL licence.
11. Pilots holding Irish national (non JAR) licences can continue to exercise the privileges of their licence for a further 2 years until 8th April 2014. The Authority will develop a conversion report prior to this date to determine what additional knowledge, skills and or experience such pilots need in order to obtain a Part FCL licence.
12. All pilots holding an EU Part FCL licence must hold a medical certificate issued in accordance with Part Med. There is no significant amendment to the medical standard from that currently applied by Ireland in accordance with JAR FCL 3 (Med).
13. The Authority will only be able to issue validations for a maximum period of one year. A further year can be added if the person has commenced the process of obtaining a Part FCL licence.
14. Pilots of aircraft registered in a non-EASA state which are considered EASA aircraft (e.g. Cessna 172) will require an EU Part FCL licence to operate such aircraft within EASA Member States.
15. All training connected with a Part FCL licence must be undertaken at an Approved Training Organisation.

We welcome any queries or comments you may have so that we can enhance the level and type of information being supplied in relation to these changes.

Please email your comments to licensing@iaa.ie