Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom)

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the public corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of aviation in the United Kingdom. The CAA head office is located in the CAA House on Kingsway in Holborn, London Borough of Camden. The CAA Safety Regulation Group is in the Aviation House in Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.

History
The CAA was established in 1972, under the terms of the Civil Aviation Act 1971, following the recommendations of a government committee chaired by Sir Ronald Edwards. Previously, regulation of aviation was the responsibility of the Air Registration Board. The current main Act of Parliament regulating aviation in the UK is the Civil Aviation Act 1982. Responsibility for air traffic control in the UK passed to NATS in the run-up to the establishment of its public-private partnership in 2001.

Structure
The CAA employs just over 1,000 staff, mainly in two offices, CAA House in Kingsway, Holborn in London and Aviation House, next to London Gatwick Airport. It does not get any direct government funding, but runs entirely on subscriptions from its member companies. It is classed as a public corporation in the public sector. The connection it has with the government is via the Machinery of Government and Standards Group of the Cabinet Office.

Functions
The CAA directly or indirectly regulates all aspects of aviation in the UK. In some aspects of aviation it is the primary regulator, in other areas, where the responsibility for regulation has passed to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the CAA acts as EASA's local office, implementing the regulations. Representatives from the CAA sit on EASA's advisory bodies, taking part in the Europe-wide regulation process.

Responsibilities
The CAA's responsibilities include:


 * Flight Crew, Aircraft Engineer and Air Traffic Controller licensing;
 * Medical regulation of safety-critical aviation personnel;
 * Licensing of aerodromes and other aviation facilities;
 * Regulation of Commercial Air Transport Air Operator Certificate (AOC) Holders
 * Maintaining the UK register of aircraft;
 * Licensing of aircraft;
 * Regulation of aircraft airworthiness and related engineering functions;
 * Economic regulation, including the regulation of monopoly and near-monopoly organisations involved in the provision of aviation services (for example National Air Traffic Services and BAA Limited), as well as regulating aviation-related organisations operating in a competitive marketplace (for example UK-based airlines);
 * Development of aviation policy, both within the UK and Europe-wide.

ATOL
The CAA also oversees the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL). The ATOL licence offers financial protection for travellers booking package tours, in the form of insurance to provide return journeys for holidaymakers stranded abroad by the sudden bankruptcy of an airline or tour operator.

CAA Flying Unit
The CAA was also responsible for the calibration of navigation and approach aids until the Flight Calibration Services group was privatised and sold to Flight Precision Ltd in 1996.

The history of the Civil Aviation Flying Unit (CAFU) can be traced back to the Air Ministry's Civil Operations Fleet founded in 1944. The CAA and its predecessors have operated 50 aircraft of 13, primarily British, aircraft types including de Havilland Tiger Moths, Avro Ansons, Airspeed Consuls, Percival Princes, de Havilland Doves, Hawker Siddeley HS 748s and Hawker Siddeley HS 125s.

The roles performed by CAFU aircraft included:


 * Calibration and testing of radio/radar navigational aids in the UK and overseas
 * Flight testing of candidates for the initial issue of commercial pilots' licences, instrument ratings and instructor ratings
 * Training and testing of authorised instrument and type-rating examiners
 * Carriage of Government Ministers, MEPs and other officials
 * Charter flights for Dan-Air Services Ltd
 * Radar target flying for the College of Air Traffic Control
 * Ordnance Survey photographic flights
 * Airport lighting inspections
 * Aerodrome categorisation and evaluation flights
 * Trials of new equipment and procedures, e.g. Microwave Landing Systems, Ground Proximity Warning Systems
 * Refresher flying for Flight Operations Inspectors and other staff
 * Educational flights for local schools

Beyond the privatisation of the calibration service in 1996, the Civil Aviation Authority operated two HS 125-700 aircraft successively up until 2002, providing conversion and continuation flying for professional CAA pilots, conducting radar trials for National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and serving the CAA, NATS and Highlands & Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) in the communications role.

Aerodrome Licensing
There are a number of unlicensed aerodromes/airfields, however, those with higher traffic levels will usually require a licence. The different licence categories that are issued to Airfields, Aerodromes/Airports by the CAA:


 * Permanent Licence
 * Public Use Licence
 * Ordinary Licence
 * Seasonal Licence: Issued to those aerodromes that are in use for more than 12 consecutive days, but less than 12 months in a year.
 * Temporary Licence: Issued to those aerodromes that are in use for not more than 12 consecutive days.