Responding to a request by Pilot, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) clarified that the actual deadline to apply for a licence as part of the so called “returner process” is still 31 December 2022. However, the CAA recommends to ‘submit applications by 31 August 2022 to allow enough time for the process to complete if the licence is required by 01 January 2023 to continue flying, as some elements of the process are outside of CAA control’. 

The process, which opened to applications in April 2021, allows pilots who previously held licences issued by the UK CAA and who had transferred their licence to a EASA state to obtain again a UK CAA licence. In an email sent to Pilot, the British Authority said that it ‘will continue to accept applications up until 31 December 2022, however there is no guarantee that those submitted after 31 August 2022 will be issued by 01 January 2023’.  

Image: Eugenio Facci