The UK Civil Aviation Authority has granted approval to the British Gliding Association (BGA) to act as a Delegated Authority for the initial issue of a Sailplane Pilot’s Licence.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has been working with the British Gliding Association to put in place the necessary measures for the approval.

The move compliments the British Gliding Association’s existing approval for assessing applications for the issue of ratings, certificates, or authorisations as well as assessing applications for the issue of a Sailplane Pilot’s Licence on the bases of holding a BGA Certificate.

With the assistance of the British Gliding Association, the UK Civil Aviation Authority will now work towards achieving its stated aim of implementing the Sailplane Pilot’s Licence, as recently announced in CAP2532 GA Pilot Licensing & Training Simplification.

Important enabler for GA

Michael MacDonald, Co-Head of General Aviation and RPAS Unit, at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “We welcome the opportunity of working more closely with the BGA as part of this enhanced delegation decision. This is an important part of the General Aviation change programme and one we are pleased to see has come to a mutual agreement.”

Pete Stratten, Chief Executive Officer of the British Gliding Association, said: “Delegation is an important enabler for GA and we welcome this development. We look forward to continuing to provide a great service to the gliding community supported by this approval.”

The British Gliding Association is the governing body for the sport of gliding in the UK. Their members are the 80 clubs that provide gliding facilities for their members throughout the UK, who support around 7000 UK glider pilots.

They provide oversight of a variety of self-regulated activities and where externally regulated, we hold various CAA-issued approvals, for example for pilot training and and continuous airworthiness management.

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