It is vital that CAP 403 Flying Displays and Special Events: Safety and Administrative Requirements and Guidance remains up-to-date and relevant, and that the CAA’s guidance material in these areas remains proportionate, clear and unambiguous.

We asked for feedback from the regulated community on proposed amendments to CAP 403 ahead of the 2021 display season. 

We compiled a draft of CAP 403 Edition 18 and consulted on it over four working weeks from 15 December 2020 to 15 January 2021. 

We received a total of 37 unique comments to the draft CAP 403 from 10 respondents.  

Of all the comments, 36 clearly conveyed some sort of change. Of these, just over 26 comments were textual in nature, suggesting revised wording or highlighting minor drafting points.

Many of these comments were duplicated between respondents; and the other 10 comments were more substantive, calling for some sort of change of the underlying policy. 

We accepted 15 of the all the comments suggesting some sort of change (42%). 

Of the 26 textual comments received, we accepted 12. Most of these comprised of rewording content for clarification, and we have tried to take a balanced view on what would be helpful. Of the 14 we elected not to implement, most called for revision to text that we had carefully drafted in cooperation with other organisations while the remainder suggested changes that have already been made.

Regarding the 10 more substantive comments we received, we implemented 3. Of those we elected not to implement, the largest group asked that we expand on material that we thought was covered adequately either in this document or elsewhere. Others suggested that we introduce content that we thought was not necessary and out of scope for this CAP.

Finally, one suggested a change that would require a more substantial policy review including an amendment to the Air Navigation Order (ANO), which we believe to be beyond the scope of this consultation. However, we welcome further inputs to policy and the ANO, as and when these are released for consultation. 

We have produced a final version of CAP 403 Edition 18 which was published on 9 February 2021. 

Since the most recent revision to CAP1324 in February 2019, the CAA has been in discussions with stakeholders on further potential enhancements to its ADR policy, both to make ADR work better for consumers and to encourage airlines that do not currently participate in ADR to consider again the merits of the schemes that are offered by the two CAA-approved ADR bodies.  We asked for comments on the latest planned changes to CAP1324 which contain these policies.

We received 13 responses to our consultation, which covered five policy areas. 

The majority of respondents welcomed clarification on the view that the ADR regulations permit ADR bodies to introduce a post-decision review process, the proposal to allow ADR bodies to implement trust account arrangements for the payment of consumer awards and clarification that ADR bodies can establish procedures for handling claims for statutory compensation on a flight basis rather than a claim basis. 

There was a mixed response to the proposals for the handling of passenger complaints that raise issues that are genuinely complex and novel for the purpose of establishing extraordinary circumstances under Regulation EC 261/20044. 

Where concerns were raised by respondents, the CAA has addressed these in its decision document (CAP2104). This includes clarifications and reassurance regarding this policy change and reiterates the CAA’s intention to review all policy changes after 2 years.

In regard to the proposal around complex and novel cases, the CAA has amended the wording of the policy to expand the sharing of information to include the passenger and to clarify that whilst we do not expect this process to be invoked often, it would not be appropriate to define the frequency with which it could occur.

The purpose of the consultation was to hear your views on a draft procedure that sets out how the CAA will carry out its new role to review and, where appropriate, amend airspace classification.

Respondents were asked five questions (open text and multiple choice): general comments on the proposed procedure overall, specific feedback on the three stages in the procedure (Consider, Review and Amend), and views on cost impacts.

This consultation follows an earlier one in December 2019 where, in parallel with developing the new procedure, we asked for specific suggestions for volumes of controlled airspace where the classification could be amended. 
 

We had 123 responses to the consultation, which we have published where we had permission to do so. Of the 123 responses, 72 were from members of the General Aviation community, 17 responses were from the commercial aviation industry, 12 from residents affected by aviation, and others were mostly from national or local representative bodies across the UK.

Overall, respondents expressed support for the concept and intention of the new procedure. In respect of the Consider, Review and Amend stages of the procedure, 63%, 60% and 59% respectively said that they were about right or that only some modifications were needed. There were also concerns about our proposals, such as a perceived lack of CAA commitment to undertake a review, the extent to which we engage with stakeholders, and whether the CAA’s decisions need independent oversight or an appeal process. Some also criticised the CAA for underestimating the cost impact of the procedure and said that reviewing airspace classification should not be a priority, especially in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. 

Some respondents said that airspace modernisation needed a more holistic approach, and questioned how classification changes would interact with airspace change proposals going through the existing CAP 1616 process. We also received comments about the type of data sources we should use, how we should prioritise proposals in our biennial plan, and the use of flexible airspace management as an alternative to reclassification.

Furthermore, respondents questioned how we assess environmental impacts of proposed changes, how we obtain the vital input from the relevant airspace controlling authority, and how the effectiveness of a change would be reviewed once implemented. 

We have published the new procedure as CAP 1991 Procedure for the CAA to review the classification of airspace and a summary as CAP 1991a.

The new procedure takes effect on 1 December 2020. Later in December 2020 we will add to this page our plan for the first volumes of airspace where we will be considering potential amendments to the classification. These have been chosen from those highlighted to us in response to the initial review that we launched in December 2019. A new CAA team dedicated to the review of airspace classification will start work on those in January 2021.

We have also published a consultation response document CAP 1990 Outcome of the consultation on a draft procedure for reviewing the classification of airspace giving an overview of the responses received, including a quantitative analysis of the multiple choice questions, and the main changes we made as a result of the consultation.

Update - December 2020

The CAA has undertaken a recruitment process to put in place the team that will be delivering this work.  The team has now been recruited. One team member joined the CAA at the beginning of December. The rest of the team will be starting early in the New Year.

The CAA has examined each of the proposed volumes to determine which could be taken forward to the “Amend” phase. In line with CAP1991, a filtering process was applied and accordingly proposals were considered as suitable for this procedure where the following factors did not apply:

• Would the change have an adverse effect on military operations;
• Does the volume sit within airspace that is currently the subject of a change in airspace design through the CAP1616 Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) process;
• Does the volume sit within airspace that will be assessed by the CAA as part of the ACP post implementation review (PIR) process; or
• Does the proposal have a significant environmental or operational impact?

A number of the proposed volumes related to airspace which sits within an existing or recently completed airspace change proposal process which will then be subject to a Post Implementation Review (PIR).  As set out in CAP 1991, where we do not progress a classification amendment because of an ongoing or recent change in airspace design, we will instead formally notify the airspace change sponsor and (where appropriate) the Airspace Change Organising Group of the intelligence we have received. We expect the airspace change sponsor to consider and respond to this intelligence in its final airspace design, or in the final PIR report.