General Aviation Partnership (GAP) | UK Civil Aviation Authority

The General Aviation Partnership (GAP) is an advisory body sponsored by the CAA’s General Aviation Unit.

It meets regularly to keep the GA community informed on recurring issues, share updates on regulatory programmes, discuss sector‑specific challenges, and support the development of future policy.

Chaired by the Head of the GA Unit, GAP serves as a collaborative forum where invited members can offer insight, raise concerns, and contribute to the shaping of GA policies, procedures, and guidance. Its purpose is to maintain strong, ongoing engagement between the CAA and the wider general aviation sector.

Become a member

Prospective members of the GAP must meet the following requirements:

Represent an organisation
Applicants must be acting on behalf of an association or commercial entity. As part of the application, they will need to provide their organisation’s articles of association (or equivalent documentation) to confirm their status.
Submit a request to the CAA
The organisation should write to the CAA via ga@caa.co.uk to formally request membership.
Group review
The request is then shared with existing GAP members. Membership is confirmed provided there are no objections or concerns raised by the group.

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Terms of Reference

The General Aviation Partnership (GAP), is an advisory body sponsored by the General Aviation (GA) Unit. The GAP meets with the CAA on a quarterly basis and is consulted for advice and views on any major matter with regards the CAA’s regulation of GA that falls within the GAU.

The GAP is chaired by the Head of the GAU with membership by invitation and remaining under constant review.

The GAP is also called upon to assist the GAU in the development of GA policies, procedures and guidance when required. Proposals initiated by the CAA or by the GAP is circulated and members invited to comment

If consensus => this will be used by the work of the GAU
If more complex => a working group will be established
Additional experts maybe used in working groups if GAP members do not have the required expertise or GAP members are unavailable

GAP will play an active role in all stages of the CAA’s policy development process by:

Providing technical input
Facilitating communication with stakeholder groups
Communicating feedback from the respective stakeholder communities
Contribute to the development of National opinion on European rulemaking activities
Contribute to the GA programme, aid the setting of priorities & monitor its progress

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Purpose

The objective of the GAP is:

To keep the community up to date on agreed re-occurring items (such as progress on the GA Change programme, oversight trends and SSC performance updates)
To provide time for specific discussion items where the CAA can understand concerns from the GA community
To provide time for specific sectors to update the community on their strategic achievements and challenges
To inform the community on any new or relevant topics as they arise
Facilitate focused discussion time for feed into future policy making as appropriate
Inform the community of our engagement with different sectors

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Outline

The GAP will occur quarterly and will be chaired by Head of GAU and RPAS. The GAP will be collaborative reflected in the meeting format which will include:

The ability to vote on reoccurring items for each meeting for general update
An overview on stakeholder engagement since previous meeting
A ‘Community in Spotlight’ by request that is sector focused highlighting both successes and challenges
Focused discussion time for input into future policy making

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Format

The agenda for the upcoming meeting will be sent approximately 6 weeks prior to the meeting
A new virtual meeting link will be sent out a few days prior to the meeting
Meeting links cannot be share. A mobile number and email address will be provided on the invite that can be contacted on the day of the meeting should any attendees connecting remotely have any issues on the day

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Attendee delegation

If a member of the GAP is unable to attend the meeting, they can nominate a colleague to attend on their behalf from their represented organisation
GAP members are required to contact the GA team at least 48 hours prior to the meeting with the name and contact details of the chosen delegate.
A meeting invite will then be sent directly to the nominated colleague

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