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UK Civil Aviation Authority

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UK Standardised European Rules of the Air

What is UK SERA?

The Standardised European Rules of the Air (SERA) were originally developed by the European Union to establish a common set of operating rules across participating States. SERA is the transposition into law of ICAO Annex 2 (Rules of the Air) and parts of ICAO Annex 3 (Meteorology), Annex 10 (Communication Procedures), Annex 11 (Air Traffic Services) and Doc 4444 (PANS-ATM).

Following the UK's departure from the European Union, SERA was assimilated into domestic law as UK SERA. Since that time, both the UK and European Union have made amendments to their respective rulesets. As a result, UK SERA has diverged from EASA SERA and differences now exist between the two frameworks. Users should not assume that provisions appearing under the same rule reference or title contain the same requirements.

Current Legislative Framework

The current UK Rules of the Air framework comprises UK SERA, the Rules of the Air Regulations 2015 and the permissions, authorisations and exemptions published within Official Record Series 4 (ORS4). Together, these documents establish the operating rules applicable to aircraft operating within the UK.

Future Development

The CAA is undertaking work to consolidate UK SERA and the Rules of the Air Regulations 2015 into a single UK Rules of the Air framework. This work aims to simplify the legislative structure, improve clarity and usability and provide a coherent basis for future development of the UK Rules of the Air.