Friday 28th August 2020The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) has signalled its concern about the lack of protection for airfields within the newly proposed changes to planning rules in the UK.Co-Chair of the group, Lord Davies of Gower, has...

Friday 17th July 2020Members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation have written to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport calling for the creation of a dedicated organisation to support owners of historically important aircraft...

Tuesday 2nd June 2020The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has started a new, more flexible, approach to regulatory charges after Members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) highlighted the need to do more to support businesses through...

Wednesday 29th April 2020.The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has published new guidance to explain its previous COVID-19 related exemptions for pilots in a more understandable format.The clarification came after the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation...

Wednesday 22nd April 2020.Members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) have written to the Chancellor asking for Government intervention to support the UK’s aviation industry through the Covid-19 pandemic.In the letter, Co-Chair of the...

Monday 20th April 2020.Sky typing is now legal again in the UK following a long campaign by the MPs and Lords of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA).The practise of using a choreographed formation of aircraft to write messages in the sky...

Thursday 16th April 2020The All-party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation has written to the Civil Aviation Authority complaining about the way important regulatory exemptions have been communicated to the public.In a letter to the CAA’s Chief Executive, the...

Wednesday 29th January 2020 The Government has confirmed that it will be reviewing lower airspace infrastructure during a debate on a new airspace law. In her opening remarks, Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State at the Department for...

Monday 20th January 2020All-Party Parliamentary group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) has officially re-formed after a brief hiatus for the General Election.The Group held an inaugural meeting in Westminster Hall to re-appoint Chairs and Officers ready for the new...

Wednesday 23 October 2019.Members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) have elected two co-Chairs to take over organising the group after the departure of former Chair Grant Shapps MP.Mark Pritchard MP and Lord Byron Davies of Gower will...

Monday 14th October 2019.The work of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation has been recognised in the Queens Speech, with the Government announcing that reform of UK airspace is one of its top priories.In her speech, which is written by the Government,...

18th September 2018: It has been a tumultuous summer in Westminster and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation has been busy working with the new Secretary of State for Transport (and former APPG Chair) the Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP and his team at the...

Tuesday 13 August 2019. The new Aviation Minister, Paul Maynard MP, has said the Department for transport (DfT) is “committed to championing aviation, including GA”.Maynard said “This department is considering a wide range of policy options... which will support GA.”...

Wednesday 24 July 2019. Congratulations to the Chair of the APPG on General Aviation, the Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, on being made the Secretary of State for Transport and we wish him the very best of luck in his new role.The rules governing APPG’s state that Ministers...

Wednesday 24 July 2019. In a major win for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) the Government has announced changes to planning guidance meaning that long established airfields will no longer be threatened by the occupants of newly built...

Monday 8 July 2019.  The Lord Kirkhope Inquiry into Lower Airspace has called for the Government to scrap and replace the legislation that sets the direction for UK lower airspace design. The current Airspace Design Process, the Inquiry found, is unfit for purpose at...

Thursday 20th June 2019. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) has responded to the Government’s ‘Aviation 2050 — the future of UK aviation’ Green Paper warning that ‘market failure’ is occurring in the UK’s General Aviation industry. The...

Friday 24th May 2019. Members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) have called the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) approach to electronic conspicuity ‘flawed’ and ‘too limited in scope to be of practical use’.The comments were revealed...

Friday 3th May 2019.The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) has responded to CAP1779 highlighting its ‘serious reservations’ on proposed changes to Visual Flight Rules (VFR) minima in Class D Airspace.The group, which includes 220 MPs and...

Tuesday 30th April 2019.This year’s Duxford General Aviation Safety Day has been hailed a great success by the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation, Grant Shapps MP. Mr Shapps, who spoke at one of the sessions during the day, said “it is...

Wednesday 17th April 2019. British aviation firms were given a welcome boost at an international exhibition.A delegation from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) attended Aero 2019 in Friedrichshafen, Germany.The group included APPG-GA...

Tuesday 16th April 2019. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is proposing that the Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) distance from cloud minima in Class D airspace be increased in line with Standard European Rules of the Air (SERA).Under new proposals, aircraft...

Wednesday 16th April 2019. Aviation Minister, Baroness Sugg, has responded to concerns raised about a new drones law.A joint letter from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for General Aviation (APPG-GA) and the British Model Flying Association (BMFA) highlighted the...

Friday 29 March. At a session of Prime Minister’s Questions, Theresa May responded to a call for action over the ongoing situation at Eshott Airfield in Northumberland.Local MP and member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation, Anne Marie Trevelyan,...

Friday 15 March 2019. Several military airfields threatened with closure have been saved – some permanently.The announcement came after concerns about the speed and scale of airfield closures were raised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation...

Monday 11 March  A new set of regulations intended to tighten rules on drone operators is in danger of having a disproportionately negative effect on the model flying community, according to the British Model Flying Association (BMFA) and the All-Party Group on...

Monday 25th February 2019.  Ministers from the Treasury have vowed to “look further into” removing VAT from professional pilot course fees.The move follows pressure from pro-aviation campaigners.It is estimated that VAT on flight training costs student pilots more...

Wednesday 20th February 2019.   The All-Party Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) has set out its vision for what it wants to achieve during 2019 in the form of five updated Work Programmes. The programmes, one for each Working Group of the APPG, set out policy...

Tuesday 19th February 2019. Membership of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) has passed an important milestone with its 200th Parliamentarian joining. This, they say, is a clear sign of support for the UK General Aviation sector. The...

Monday 18th February 2019   Planning rules must further change if airfields are to survive and thrive. That is the view of the Cross-Party group on aviation. They say that airfields should be given the same protections under planning law as other places of...

Wednesday 6th February 2019. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA), welcomes the release of the General Aviation’s strategy, but calls on the CAA to be more ambitious. The progress made by Ministers and the General Aviation Unit is recognised...

Wednesday 6th February 2019.A formation of World War Two aircraft will return to Normandy this year - for what may be the final time. An emotional flypast will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.More than thirty five DC-3/C-47 Dakota transport...

The number of students in Britain learning to become airline pilots is far below potential – due to much higher training costs in this country compared to elsewhere in the world.Members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA), have now met...

Wednesday 9th January 2019. All-Party Group urges government to use backbench Drone Bill to protect airports The Government is being urged to give its full backing to tougher action to stop drones causing chaos at our airports. The call follows the latest...

The Government should be “more ambitious” in its proposals for the future of aviation in this country. And it should ensure airfields are protected from “hostile development.” That is the view of the All-Party Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA), a group of over 215...

The challenges facing the UK’s aviation manufacturing and engineering industries are the focus of a new initiative by the 177-parliamentarian strong All-Party Parliamentary Group for General Aviation (APPG-GA).The new Working Group will research and inform politicians...

Interview date: 22/12/18. BBC Radio 4 PM Programme interview with APPG Chair, The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, discussing drones and new legislation by APPG Member Peter Bone MP which has its 2nd Reading on 15th February 2018. Statement Published: 20/12/18 The All-Party...

11 December 2018: Concerns over the design of the aviation skies above Britain were raised during the first Oral hearing session of an inquiry commissioned by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA).The inquiry, chaired by Lord Kirkhope of...

  08/12/18 The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) has called upon the Housing and Planning Minister to provide airfields with the same level of retrospective protection as churches, live music venues and farms. In a meeting between...

Representatives of the All Party Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) travelled to Vienna to contribute to the 2018 EASA Annual Safety Conference held from the 5th to the 7th of November. The conference comprised two days of panel discussions aimed at building...

30th October 2018: On Tuesday 23rd October, 24 members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) joined Carol Vorderman to launch the ‘Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Jobs and Skills’ Working Group. The STEM jobs and...

23rd October 2018: The All Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) has written a letter1 urging the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, The Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP,  to ‘call in’ the decision to approve plans for a...

22nd October 2018: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has written, after meeting with the APPG on General Aviation (APPG-GA), to highlight the importance of flight training in the UK. Recognising that “new pilots are essential for the growth and sustainability of the UK...

17 October 2018 The All Party Parliamentary Group for General Aviation (APPG-GA) has published the Terms of Reference for its new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Jobs & Skills Working Group. The Terms of Reference were drafted following a...

16 October 2018: The All Party Parliamentary Group for General Aviation (APP-GA) has written to the Secretary of State for Transport urging him to reconsider the safeguarding obligations invested in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in order to improve protection for...

2nd October 2018: In a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA), lawmakers from the UK APPG on General Aviation and the Congressional General Aviation Caucus, have called for a...

18th September 2018: The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) is parliament’s largest APPG, With 174 MPs and Peers[1]. The parliamentary group works to educate parliamentarians and ministers about the role that aviation plays in society and our...

The Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg CBE has promised to update UK law to allow for the practice of Skytyping and other forms of sky writing in the UK. The move follows pressure from parliamentarians and aviation aerobatic experts to change outdated legislation, which...

The Local Government Secretary of State, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, has told local planning authorities that they should engage with non-statutory consultees (including aerodromes) on developments within the local area, in a letter to the All-Party Parliamentary...

  A cross-party group of MPs has successfully completed a visit to Washington, D.C. to discuss the General Aviation sector with US aviation bodies. The group also visited EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin to learn more about the thriving grassroots sector and...

  25/07/18 The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) has welcomed two pro-General Aviation changes made to the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) but says government has more to do if it wishes to return General Aviation, and its...

16/07/18 The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has announced it intends to investigate the way that airspace changes are processed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the UK. The Parliamentary Group’s announcement comes in the wake of a...

04/07/18 The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has written to the Defence Secretary criticising the Government’s approach to the disposal of historic aircraft.  In a wide-ranging critique, Parliamentary Group Chair Grant Shapps MP, and Heritage...

29/06/18 The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation has written to Business Secretary Greg Clark MP highlighting the key role the General Aviation sector can play in supporting the UK’s Industrial Strategy. The all-party group has requested to meet with the...

25/06/18 The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation has expressed its concern about “significant disparities” between the outcome of a meeting with the Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood MP, and his subsequent letter to the all-party group. In a meeting with...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation has pressed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to speed up the roll-out of GPS approaches at aerodromes across the UK, after the UK’s aviation regulator admitted the four-year delay in approving them “has not been...

Representatives from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation’s Heritage Working Group have met with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to press the case for more investment to preserve our valued heritage aviation sector....

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation’s Airspace Working Group has written to the new Chief Executive of the Civil Aviation Authority, Richard Moriarty, to welcome him to his role and ask how he “intends to ensure that General Aviation needs are...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation has called on the Prime Minister and Transport Secretary to grant ‘official safeguarding’ status to all 123 licensed or certificated aerodromes in the United Kingdom. In letters to the Prime Minister Theresa May,...

The Defence Minister, The Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP, has pledged to look again at the military aerodromes being disposed as part of the Ministry of Defence estate modernisation programme. In a productive meeting with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on General...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has urged the new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to take affirmative action to “protect and enhance” the UK’s £3bn General Aviation sector. In a letter to The Rt Hon James...

The Aviation Minister, Baroness Sugg CBE, has provided a written update to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation on the progress Government is making towards fulfilling its objective of making the United Kingdom the best country in the world for...

The Immigration Minister has confirmed that UK Border Force “would not ordinarily object” to the development of so-called ‘hangar homes’ on aerodrome sites, in a letter to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation. Housing built airside on working...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has expressed its “deep and growing alarm” over Ministry of Defence plans to dispose of 15 military aerodromes in a letter to the Secretary of State for Defence. In a comprehensive letter to The Rt Hon Gavin...

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has committed to ensure that the UK’s £3bn General Aviation sector can develop, in a letter to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). In the letter, which can be read in full below, the Rt Hon...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has voiced significant concerns about the potential dangers of proposed airspace changes around London Oxford Airport and RAF Brize Norton, branding the proposed changes ‘dangerous’. In separate submissions...

Representatives from the UK’s network of heritage museums and vintage flying associations have met with parliamentarians at Westminster for the first meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group’s (APPG) new heritage aviation working group. The formation of the new...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has sent a comprehensive list of the airfields under immediate threat of closure to the Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg. In a letter accompanying the ‘Airfields in Danger’ list, created and maintained by...

UK General Aviation leaders have expressed relief that the government’s new draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) specifically recognises the importance of General Aviation for the first time. However, despite the new breakthrough paragraph, the All-Party...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has welcomed the Government’s overhaul of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which includes a specific reference to the importance of General Aviation for the first time. The NPPF provides...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation visited London Southend Airport to meet with Stobart Aviation Chief Executive Glyn Jones, and discuss how General Aviation fits in to this rapidly expanding airport. Stobart Aviation, part of Stobart Group,...

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has pledged to review planning policies relating to airfields, in a letter to the Attorney General and MP for Kenilworth and Southam. This new letter to Jeremy Wright QC MP, the top legal officer in...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation attended the official announcement of the appointment of Byron Davies, the founding Chair of this group, to the role of General Aviation Champion at the Department for Transport. The announcement was made by...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation visited IWM Duxford, the UK’s leading aviation museum, to discuss the challenges they face and their exciting plans for the future. The group heard about the many air displays that Duxford produces every...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has called for changes to the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to strengthen protection for airfields alongside the need to build more houses across the country. In a submission to the...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has warmly welcomed a commitment by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid MP, to revisit Government planning policy in relation to airfields. In a positive reply to the...

The Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, has announced that Byron Davies will be the Government’s first ever General Aviation Champion. Mr Grayling made the announcement at the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation Christmas...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has dismissed claims from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government that “the current [planning] approach remains appropriate” when considering airfield sites for development. In a...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has written to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling following their meeting last week, to reiterate calls for urgent ministerial action on protecting our airfields. The All-Party Group urges the Department for...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation met with the Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling, to discuss how General Aviation is at the centre of an aviation sector worth £58bn to the United Kingdom and to discuss the many pressing issues...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation visited Wycombe Air Park to talk to businesses and airfield operators about the challenges facing the General Aviation sector, and how they can be overcome. A number of businesses at the Air Park spoke about...

Membership of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has soared to 70 parliamentarians, in a clear sign of support for the General Aviation sector. Some of the latest additions to the Parliamentary membership include the current Leader of the...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has written to the Secretaries of State for Transport and Communities and Local Government, outlining the existential crisis facing the General Aviation sector and detailing five key areas that Government...

Grant Shapps MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation, has raised serious concerns in a letter to Adur and Worthing Councils over a potential development next to Shoreham Airport, and what impact this could have on the airfield’s...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation now has 32 parliamentarians from across the main political parties and both Houses of Parliament signed up in support of the general aviation sector. Since the inaugural meeting of the new Parliament in...

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on General Aviation has held its inaugural meeting of the new Parliament, following the 2017 General Election. At the meeting, which was held on Wednesday 28th June 2017 in Parliament, Grant Shapps MP was elected as the new...