Holders of Air Transport Licences must be controlled by UK nationals
Unlike Operating Licences (which can be held by nationals of any EEA country), Air Transport
Licence holders must be UK nationals.
Statutory publication of applications and objections procedure
There are statutory procedures for the processing of Air Transport Licence applications, set out
in The Civil Aviation Authority Regulations 1991. These allow for the publication of an application
and give an opportunity for objections to be made by licence holders or other interested
parties.
In normal circumstances the CAA will publish an application in its weekly Licensing Notices as
soon as possible after receipt, allowing 21 days for objections to be made.
If a valid objection is made, the matter has to be decided at a public hearing at which the
applicant and objector are present.
The CAA will reach a decision after the hearing and publish a written decision. Decisions made
at previous hearings are available online on the decisions page on this website.
Although it aims to deliver decisions as quickly as possible, if a public hearing is required
the process will normally take at least two months after the end of the objection period.
Unopposed applications can be dealt with very quickly after the end of the objection period.