The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a consultation on its proposals for the implementation of the Standardised European Rules of the Air (SERA).
The consultation period runs until 28 August 2013.
SERA has been jointly developed by Eurocontrol and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on behalf of the European Commission. According to a press release from the CAA, it is ‘intended to introduce a harmonised set of rules for pilots to abide by when flying in European airspace’. Although SERA was introduced on 4 December 2012, the UK has decided not to complete implementation until 4 December 2014 at the latest.
SERA is based upon existing International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requirements already in effect in UK airspace. However, there will be changes to some of the current UK rules and regulations, including:
• A change from the use of quadrantal cruising levels to semicircular cruising levels
• Minimum heights
• Transition to the SERA rules covering VFR night flying
• Special VFR requirements
• Rights of way on the ground
The CAA says that it hopes to minimise SERA’s impact upon UK operations as far as possible by applying SERA’s flexibility provisions and retaining as many of the UK’s current rules as permitted.
Full details of the consultation, including how to submit comment on the CAA’s proposals, can be found on the organisation’s website www.caa.co.uk/consultations.
