Safety Guidance for Air Rallies, Fly-ins, Air Races/Contests and Charity Events

CAP 1988 (Safety Guidance for Air Rallies, Fly-ins, Air Races/Contests and Charity Events) is a new document that does not introduce new legal requirements and forms non statutory safety guidance. It builds on the guidance formerly found in CAP403 Flying Displays and Special Events until Edition 14 when significant re-writing took place.

This non statutory safety guidance CAP is for organisers and participating pilots of fly-ins, air rallies and races/contests when such events are conducted in accordance with the normal rules of the air (unless specifically permitted or exempted) and do not fall into the scope of CAP403 (Flying Displays and Special Events). This document also provides guidance for organised charity events involving multiple aircraft.  

The consultation was run as it is vital that the document reflected relevant practices in the GA community so that these events continue to flourish with proportionate, clear and unambiguous guidance.

We compiled a draft of CAP 1988 and consulted on it over four weeks from 12^th January 2026 and 16^th February 2026.

We received a total of 62 unique detailed comments on the draft CAP1988 from 21 respondents.

Stakeholders including pilots, event organisers, aerodrome operators, and national organisations responded constructively and in detail.

There was general support for the document’s intent, tone, and utility, particularly for less‑experienced organisers; the appendixes were widely welcomed in being clear though suggestions were made to improve their usability.

Some respondents asked for clearer proportionality on how this guidance applies, ensuring guidance scales appropriately from small, informal gatherings to large, complex events. Changes to the wording were suggested to avoid blurring the line between guidance and regulation, potentially deterring volunteers from acting as event organisers.

There was support for advance planning and briefings, but with emphasis on this being proportionate and provided via digital publication, and avoidance of duplication, so where necessary continuing to use existing briefing material for an airfield.

Suggestions to address practical and emerging risks, including ground handling, animals, drones, sale of gas toy balloons, and pragmatic public/airside management.

Overall, respondents supported the guidance provided it remained risk‑based, proportionate, and the wording appropriate to non-statutory guidance but provided several areas of comments for the CAA to reflect on.

The CAA has carefully considered all consultation responses received and thanks all contributors. The feedback was constructive, technically detailed, and informed by significant operational experience.

Most of the substantive comments have been considered in detail, and the document has been appropriately revised to improve clarity and risk-based proportionality for these events with language refined to avoid unnecessary prescription while retaining clear safety intent.

The document has also introduced a term ‘Contest Director’ to better reflect normal practices within Air Races and Contests.

It is important to reinforce the non‑statutory, advisory nature of this document which intends to showcase some of the best practices for the GA community in the running of these events.

The document has also been through another internal review during March 2026.

We have produced a final version of CAP1988 which was published on 20^th May 2026.