Service standards
What you can expect from us.
The CAA is committed to strengthening transparency to ensure our customers and the public can view our performance against our service targets. See below detail of our service standards, and the CAA’s performance against our service targets over the last six months.
General service standards
- Our staff will be courteous and helpful.
- Visitors who have a pre-arranged appointment will be seen on time.
- Telephones will be answered promptly. Your enquiries will be dealt with at that time or under a 'call back' arrangement acceptable to you. The nature of some enquiries may be required to be submitted in writing to us and this will be advised where applicable.
- Written communications will be replied to within 20 working days. Some communications and requests for information require comprehensive responses which might take longer to prepare. In these cases, we will acknowledge your correspondence within 20 working days. We will advise when you can expect to receive a comprehensive reply and who may be contacted on the matter.
- We aim to achieve our specific service standards (see below) on 90% of occasions. This target has been set because our ability to meet these standards is affected by many factors, not least of which is seasonal variation in demand.
- We are working towards further digitisation of our services, including our on-line services.
- We aim to continuously improve how we provide our services.
Specific service standards
Our service standards are based on the assumption that the following necessary inputs have been provided:
- a correct and complete application with the relevant and required supporting documents. Incorrect or incomplete applications will result in delays;
- the application is submitted on behalf of an appropriately approved organisation or suitably authorised individual;
- the required and requested information in a satisfactory and timely manner;
- the appropriate fees;
- timely access to your facilities, personnel or aircraft, as we require.
Our standards also assume that we are satisfied with the results of any required:
- examination or competency check
- inspection, audit, technical assessment, or survey
- flight inspection or flight test whether carried out by us or by an appropriately approved organisation
For long or complex projects, or where other Aviation Authorities are involved, a progress review process will be established with the applicant, the CAA and the other agencies involved. In such cases, where the following service levels cannot be achieved, individuals/organisations will be contacted with a revised timeframe for completion.
Our performance indicators
The following table sets out our performance against the key services managed by the CAA’s Shared Service Centre (SSC). See the ‘Supplementary service targets information’ section below for detail on the service level targets that the performance is measured against.
| Licensing service |
Q4 2025/26 |
Q1 2026/27 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Service Level % (Target > 90%) |
Total completed applications |
Service Level % (Target > 90%) |
Total completed applications |
|
|
Commercial Pilot Personnel Licences |
99% |
1555 |
97.2% |
1709 |
|
General Aviation Pilot Personnel Licences |
99% |
918 |
98.9% |
1213 |
|
Air Traffic Services Personnel Licences |
99.4% |
1154 |
99.3% |
1076 |
|
Examiner & Instructor Personnel Licences |
99.2% |
402 |
99.2% |
370 |
|
Airworthiness Review Certificates |
100% |
34 |
100% |
39 |
|
Permits to Fly |
97.9% |
48 |
97% |
67 |
|
Certificates of Airworthiness |
100% |
25 |
95.6% |
23 |
|
Changes of registered ownership and other register amendments |
99.5% |
422 |
91% |
520 |
|
Completed new aircraft registrations and overseas deregistrations |
97.4% |
228 |
94.7% |
263 |
|
Engineer Licences with technical assessment required |
35.3% |
173 |
72.6% |
237 |
|
Engineer Licences without technical assessment |
75.2% |
763 |
94.5% |
853 |
|
Mortgage entries, discharges and priority notices |
100% |
96 |
100% |
146 |
|
Airworthiness Approval Certificates |
96.3% |
885 |
96.1% |
956 |
| Category | Q4 2025/26 | Q1 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|
|
Number of active drone Operator IDs registered for Individuals (The Operator is the person or organisation that's responsible for maintaining and managing a drone or model aircraft. They must have an Operator ID, which is renewed each year.) |
310,662 | 321,816 |
|
Number of active drone Operator IDs registered for Organisations (See description above.) |
10,685 | 10,990 |
|
Number of active drone FlyerIDs (Anyone flying a drone or model aircraft over 100g must take a theory test to get a Flyer ID, to make sure they know how to fly safely and legally. This is valid for five years.) |
603,015 | 630,408 |
|
Number of active remote pilot competency certificates (The remote pilot qualifications required depends on the type of operation and competency requirements – see detail here. This is the total of all types of remote competency certificate.) |
27,168 | 25,671 |
|
Pre-Defined Risk Assessment (PDRA01) Average Application Time (minutes) (PDRA01 gives authorisation to fly a drone between 250g and 25kg in residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas, within visual line of sight e.g. inspecting roofs) |
28 | 23 |
| PDRA01 applications satisfaction rate | 74% very satisfied or satisfied | 71% very satisfied or satisfied |
|
Number of Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) drone applications (If the operations are more complex and not covered by PDRA01, a SORA application is required e.g. flying beyond visual line of sight, close to people, dropping items from a drone.) |
62 | 75 |
| Number of SORA drone applications approved | 18 | 34 |
| Proportion of SORA applications issued under 90 days | 50% | 12.5% |
SORA applications satisfaction rate: Satisfaction data for this metric is not currently reported, as available responses are not sufficient to provide a robust metric. We will aim to report this metric in future quarters as response volumes increase.
Processing times for Orbital Operator Licence applications
(12-month rolling period)
|
Licence Time |
Number of licences |
|---|---|
|
< 6 months (180 days) |
15 |
|
6 – 9 months (180 – 270 days) |
1 |
|
9 - 12 months (271 – 365 days) |
1 |
|
12 months + (366 days) |
3 |
|
Total licences issued |
20 |
Notes: Orbital Operator Licences account for the highest volume of applications each year, enabling robust and publishable processing time data. Other licence categories receive significantly fewer applications, meaning equivalent processing time data is not published as it would be based on very small sample sizes and could risk identifying individual applicants.
|
Spaceflight: Customer satisfaction |
July 2025-June 2026 |
|---|---|
|
Overall score |
4/5 |
Notes: The source of the data is our Citizen Space Satisfaction Survey: UK commercial space licence - Civil Aviation Authority - Citizen Space. It is based on Q5: “Overall, how satisfied were you with the UK commercial licensing process?”, which uses a multiple-choice 1–5 satisfaction scale.
|
Department |
Q1 2026/27 Answered |
Q1 2026/27 Offered |
Q1 2026/27 Answered % |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Contact Centre |
5730 |
5967 |
96% |
|
Medical |
1353 |
1404 |
96.4% |
|
Customer Experience (Website Customer Satisfaction) |
Q4 2025/26 |
Q1 2026/27 Target = 4/5 |
|---|---|---|
|
Commercial Aviation |
3.0/5 |
2.8/5 |
|
General Aviation |
3.2/5 |
3.3/5 |
|
Passenger |
3.0/5 |
3.1/5 |
|
Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) |
3.6/5 |
3.7/5 |
|
Total (average) |
3.3/5 |
3.2/5 |
|
Item |
Q4 2025/26 |
Q1 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|
|
Customer feedback assessment |
8/10 |
8/10 |
|
Feefo rating 2025 (annual assessment) |
Platinum trusted status (awarded to organisations that achieve average customer service rating of at least 4.5/5 for three consecutive years) |
|
|
Process Stage |
Q4 2025/26 |
Q1 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|
|
Stage 1 complaints (SLA/total) Stage 1 complaints upheld Stage 2 Complaints (SLA/total) Stage 2 Complaints upheld |
90% / 23 7 100% / 6 1 |
94% / 20 13 100% / 0 2 |
Complaints with external bodies
|
Process Stage |
Q4 2025/26 |
Q1 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|
|
Cases under review by ICA Cases under review by PHSO |
1 0 |
3 1 |
|
Scale |
Q4 2025/26 |
Q1 2026/27 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
% |
Total |
% |
Total |
|
| Very satisfied | 72% | 884 | 73% | 2051 |
| Satisfied | 14% | 176 | 13% | 369 |
| Neither satisfied or dissatisfied | 3% | 41 | 3% | 92 |
| Dissatisfied | 4% | 54 | 4% | 118 |
| Very dissatisfied | 7% | 83 | 6% | 168 |
Notes: The data comes from an online survey on CAA drones registration portal – this is used to view or renew an Operator ID or Flyer ID.
|
Service |
Service Level Targets |
|---|---|
|
Commercial Pilot Personnel Licences |
90% of applications are processed within 10 working days from receipt of correct application. |
|
General Aviation Pilot Personnel Licences |
90% of applications are processed within 10 working days from receipt of correct application. |
|
Air Traffic Services Personnel Licences |
90% of applications are processed within 10 working days from receipt of correct application. |
|
Examiner & Instructor Personnel Licences |
90% of applications are processed within 10 working days from receipt of correct application. |
|
Airworthiness Review Certificates |
90% of applications are processed within the 5 working days from receipt of a correct application. |
|
Permits to Fly |
90% of applications are processed within the 20 working days from receipt of a correct application and recommendation by the responsible technical authority within the CAA. |
|
Certificates of Airworthiness |
90% of applications are processed within the15 working days from receipt of a correct application and recommendation by the responsible technical authority within the CAA. |
|
Changes of registered ownership and other register amendments |
90% of applications are processed within the 7 days from receipt of a correct application. |
|
Completed new aircraft registrations and overseas de-registrations |
90% of applications are processed within the 3 days from receipt of a correct application. |
|
Mortgage entries, discharges and priority notices |
90% of applications are processed within the 3 days from receipt of a correct application. |
|
Airworthiness Approval Certificates |
90% of applications are processed within 20 working days from receipt of correct application and recommendation by the responsible technical authority within the CAA. |
|
Telephony |
>90% of calls to Shared Services Centre (SSC) are answered |
|
CAA international (CAAi) customer feedback assessment |
A score of 8/10 |
|
CAA international (CAAi) Feefo rating |
Retain platinum trusted status |
|
Service |
Service Level Targets |
|---|---|
|
Commercial Pilot Personnel Licences |
90% of applications are processed within 10 working days from receipt of correct application. |
|
General Aviation Pilot Personnel Licences |
90% of applications are processed within 10 working days from receipt of correct application. |
|
Air Traffic Services Personnel Licences |
90% of applications are processed within 10 working days from receipt of correct application. |
|
Examiner & Instructor Personnel Licences |
90% of applications are processed within 10 working days from receipt of correct application. |
|
Airworthiness Review Certificates |
90% of applications are processed within the 5 working days from receipt of a correct application. |
|
Permits to Fly |
90% of applications are processed within the 20 working days from receipt of a correct application and recommendation by the responsible technical authority within the CAA. |
|
Certificates of Airworthiness |
90% of applications are processed within the15 working days from receipt of a correct application and recommendation by the responsible technical authority within the CAA.. |
|
Changes of registered ownership and other register amendments |
90 % of applications are processed within the 7 days from receipt of a correct application. |
|
Completed new aircraft registrations and overseas de-registrations |
90 % of applications are processed within the 3 days from receipt of a correct application. |
|
Mortgage entries, discharges and priority notices |
90 % of applications are processed within the 3 days from receipt of a correct application. |
|
Airworthiness Approval Certificates |
90% of applications are processed within 20 working days from receipt of correct application and recommendation by the responsible technical authority within the CAA. |
|
Telephony |
>90% of calls to Shared Services Centre (SSC) are answered |
|
CAA international (CAAi) customer feedback assessment |
A score of 8/10 |
|
CAA international (CAAi) Feefo rating |
Retain platinum trusted status |