Night commercial operations by single-engined aircraft will be banned in all European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) member nations if the Joint Aviation Requirements (JARs) go into force as they are drafted, according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
The relevant JARs are not finalised, however, but are due to become effective from April 1998.
The CAA has just won the final stage in a legal battle initiated to establish whether it had the right to ban such operations in UK airspace by a Norwegian-registered airline (Flight International, 25 June-1 July).
Norway, which is a member of the JAA and the European Civil Aviation Conference, permits such flights, as does France. Meanwhile the CAA has published a letter of intent to make its rules watertight.
A JAR study group, however, is still considering whether single-engine night operations may be allowed in special corridors over sparsely populated areas.
Source: Flight International