We represent the interests of General Aviation (GA) in the UK through our lobbying and contact at Government, Regulatory and Local levels. Our aims and objectives are in line with those of IAOPA and the specific needs of our members.

General aviation is defined by ICAO as "All civil aviation operations other than scheduled air services and non-scheduled air transport operations for remuneration or hire." Our interest is the whole of GA and not just a specific sector.

Unlike other aviation associations in the UK, AOPA does not have any potential conflict of interest with Government or Regulatory bodies. We do not issue licences and are not co-regulators. This gives us total independence and are free to represent our members in whatever part of GA they are interested in.

We retain our links to our fellow national AOPA's in Europe and worldwide through IAOPA, giving us the widest influence of any UK aviation association.

The cost of our work is borne by our members, even where the whole of GA benefits. With more members we would have more resources to fund wider activities and have a stronger voice.

• No national regulation should impose more stringent restrictions on GA than those stated within the ICAO Annexes except, subject to genuine consultation, to meet reasonable local considerations.

• Where regulations affecting GA are proposed these shall be subject to genuine consultation, be proportional and be risk based on evidential data.

• No regulation should be introduced that places unreasonable costs on GA and, in principle, the beneficiary of any such regulation should meet such costs.

• The UK Government should remove regulatory barriers to the development of GA and Aerial Work in the UK and provide incentives to help GA achieve environmental goals.

• All aircraft should have the right of access to public-use aerodromes on affair an reasonable terms.

• All non-commercial GA operations should have the right to self-handle at any public-use aerodrome.

• The CAA, with the support of the DfT, should implement the provisions of ICAO Annex 9 (Facilitation), that state, in part:

“Adequate measures should be taken to ensure convenient parking and servicing of aircraft of all types and categories — regular, non-scheduled and general aviation aircraft — in order to expedite clearance and operations on the apron and to reduce aircraft ground stop time.”

• No development should be allowed in the vicinity of an aerodrome that will affect operations or result in neighbourhood campaigns to restrict operations or close an aerodrome.

• The sale of aerodrome property for non-aviation purposes that do not benefit operations should be discontinued.

• Publicly and State owned aerodromes should not be sold to private operators without a government sponsored hearing on the issue. The desired result of the hearing would be a written agreement for the aerodrome to continue as a public use facility as part of a document and agreed national aerodrome infrastructure.

• Eliminate barriers that unduly impede or restrict the use of airspace by general aviation and aerial work flights, such as restricted areas and closely controlled airspace not necessary for the safe and efficient control of air traffic. Controlled airspace should be the minimum required to support the safety of commercial air transport flights not the maximum.

• Simplify airspace structure and reduce controlled airspace to minimum amounts needed for the safe and efficient flow of air traffic.

• Provide a maximum amount of uncontrolled airspace, particularly at lower altitudes, for VFR traffic.

• Where classes of Controlled Airspace (CAS) are required it should either be D or C as both accept VFR. However all CAS needs to be reliably serviced by a controller as permission to enter is required. Therefore AOPA want to see improvements in access being granted, with more investment being made to support services for all airspace users where CAS exists.

• Whilst AOPA supports Electronic Conspicuity (EC) we want to see a cooperative surveillance environment.
  

• Provision of air navigation and communications facilities that are adequate to the needs of general aviation.

• Requirements for additional/new equipment necessary to operate in the airspace system should not be imposed with less than seven years lead time.

• Encourage development of a multipurpose satellite system that will provide navigation, communications, surveillance, collision avoidance and search and rescue information.  Multiple satellites/systems should be avoided to preclude investing in multiple systems/receivers. Satellite systems should be shared with other users to achieve maximum economy for general aviation users.

• Re-instate access to EGNOS LPV signal and approaches unless/until a fully functional and compatible alternative service is available and free at point of use.
  

• The CAA and DfT should fund accelerated standardisation and experimental evaluation by general aviation and aerial work users of such technologies to allow early use of enhanced navigation and communications techniques that meet international standards and will provide efficiency and safety benefits.

• The integrity of the aeronautical frequency spectrum must be protected.

• The 108-112 Mhz frequency spectrum currently used for ILS localizer signals should be retained for aeronautical use regardless of any ILS service termination dates.
  

• ACAS/TCAS should not be required for small general aviation or aerial work aircraft.

• As new technology becomes available, including low cost portable solutions, such as ADS-B and SWIM (system wide information management), AOPA will encourage the CAA to remove controlled airspace where technology is able to provide the solutions for known/known intent environment.

• AOPA accepts that GA must remain sensitive to the environmental concerns of the public and take steps to educate both the public and members about the relative merits of their mutual concerns.
• AOPA recognises that Aircraft owners and pilots should do their utmost to be good neighbours to the non-flying public. One of the main objections is aircraft noise. AOPA’s position is that noise reduction equipment certified to international standards should be accepted without any supplementary national requirements and costs.

AOPA is keen to promote the use of unleaded fuels: 

• Make unleaded aviation fuel more generally available and at an attractive price. Gain DfT support to encourage airfield installations, national fuel distribution and a temporary tax break.
• Make it easy for pilots to know whether their aircraft can use unleaded aviation fuel. eg placards by fuel filler caps and new information added to G-INFO to facilitate lookup.
• Encourage people buying new aircraft to only consider models that are clearly capable of running on unleaded fuel.  
• Pursue the authorisation of a higher octane unleaded fuel for those aircraft not able to run on the current unleaded variants. A leading European contender is under trials and should be prioritised.
• Encourage the introduction of electric aircraft charging facilities widely at airfields.

• General aviation aircraft certification and continuing airworthiness standards should not impose unrealistic or excessive measures beyond those required for the safe and economical operation of aircraft.

• Maintenance schedules should be appropriate to the operation and not be unduly restrictive.

• Owner/operator maintenance should be permitted to the maximum extent possible for non-commercial aircraft operations, should the owner/operator wish to do so.

• All maintenance programs should be designed to achieve safety at a reasonable cost.

• Urge the CAA to adopt as mandatory requirements for non-commercial aircraft only the provisions specified in the airworthiness limitations of the approved maintenance manual, Type Certificate Data Sheets (TCDS), or an airworthiness Directive (AD), and not any other manufacturers’ recommendations contained in Service Bulletins, Service Instructions and Service Letters relating to power plants, their accessories and airframes and their components.

• AOPA continues to press the DfT to enter into appropriate bilateral agreements for aircraft maintenance standards.

• AOPA continues to press the DfT to enter into appropriate bilateral agreements for flight crew licensing and training standards.

• AOPA continues to press the DfT to apply zero rate VAT to professional flight training.

• AOPA continues to press the CAA for a single pilot licence that can cover all flying activities with appropriate training and ratings with common revalidation standards and ICAO compliance where flight outside UK Airspace is required.