Cost sharing in a flying club aircraft

Yes, you can share costs in a club aircraft. The club's hire charge is an aircraft rental fee, which is one of the four direct costs passengers can contribute to, as long as it is no more than the current market rate. Your club membership fee is not shareable, and you need to check that the club's rules and insurance allow cost sharing before you take paying passengers.

All the usual rules still apply: no more than six people including you, no passenger paying more than an equal share, and a signed declaration for each passenger before the flight. This guide covers what's different when the aircraft belongs to a club.

Club hire is a rental fee

Direct costs are defined in law as "the costs only directly incurred for a flight and include only: (a) fuel; (b) oil; (c) airfield charges; and (d) aircraft rental fees at current market rate" (UK Reg (EU) 965/2012 Art. 2(12); the same wording appears in the ANO 2016 Sch. 1 definition). The CAA's own example of a direct cost includes a "rental fee for an aircraft" (CAP 1590 (guidance), para 2).

The limit is the market rate. GM1 NCO.GEN.102(c)(b) defines it as "the average rental price of the same type of aircraft in the same geographic area on the particular date of the flight". CAP 1590, para 37, uses the same definition.

For most club flying that's straightforward:

• Member rate at or below local prices. Use it as the rental figure.
• A rate above local prices (for example, a non-member or temporary rate that's higher than other clubs and schools charge for the type nearby). Use the market figure in the cost split and pay the difference yourself.

Only the hire charge for the flight counts. A booking fee or other club charge that isn't the hire of the aircraft isn't on the list of direct costs.

Wet hire

Most clubs charge wet, which means fuel is already in the hourly rate. Share the wet hire charge plus any airfield charges for the flight (landing fees at your destination, for example). Don't add fuel on top. If you buy fuel away from base and the club credits it against your bill, use the net figure so fuel is counted only once.

The cost sharing calculator works out each person's share and gives the odd pennies to the pilot.

Membership fees stay with you

NCO.GEN.102(b) says "All costs other than direct costs must be paid by the pilot with no contribution from the passengers." ANO 2016 art. 13(2)(b) says the same for non-Part-21 aircraft.

The CAA's cost sharing web page is specific about clubs. It says annual costs "cannot be included in the cost sharing arrangement" and describes them as "the cost of keeping, maintaining, insuring and operating the aircraft over a period of one calendar year (including items like club membership fees for renters)."

So your annual subscription, joining fee and any other fixed club charges are yours. Passengers contribute only to the costs of the flight itself. See what counts as a direct cost for the full list.

Club rules and insurance

Does the club allow it?

The law permits cost sharing in a hired aircraft, but the club owns the aircraft and sets the terms of hire. Some clubs restrict carrying passengers on certain aircraft, set their own experience requirements, or have a policy on cost sharing. Read the club's rules, or ask the CFI or committee, before you arrange a flight. Club rules apply on top of the law, not instead of it.

Does the insurance cover it?

CAP 1590 (guidance), para 14: "It is the pilot's responsibility to ensure the flight is insured for cost sharing flights with passengers although passengers are responsible for checking that any personal life, accident and/or health insurance they have is valid for non-commercial flights."

The club usually holds the policy, but that paragraph puts the responsibility on you. Ask the club to confirm that its policy covers cost-sharing flights with passengers, and keep a note of the answer. The CAA's template declaration form also asks the pilot to confirm that insurance covers cost sharing.

Keep the arrangement yours, not the club's

The flight "must be operated by a private individual" (NCO.GEN.102(d)). The CAA's web page adds that cost sharing flights "cannot form part of a business activity through an organisation." When you hire a club aircraft and share costs, the arrangement is between you and your passengers. The club shouldn't be organising passengers or taking their money for the flight. Who counts as "the operator" of a hired aircraft isn't settled; the cautious approach is to treat yourself as the operator and keep the records.

A club that is an organisation created to promote aerial sport or leisure aviation may run introductory flights, but that's a different derogation (UK Reg (EU) 965/2012 Art. 6(4a)(c)) with its own conditions, and it isn't cost sharing. See cost sharing when hiring from a flying school for how the two differ.

Advertising within the club

Before 1 October 2025, the ANO restricted advertising of cost-shared flights in non-Part-21 aircraft, with an exception for advertising within a flying club. That version of art. 13 has been replaced. The current rules don't have a club exception, and they don't depend on where the advert appears.

NCO.GEN.102(i) applies "Where advertisement or promotion of the flight occurs". The advertisement or promotion "must be placed by the pilot intending to operate the flight" and must include:

• "a statement that the flight is a private arrangement not conducted in accordance with CAT safety standards"
• "the start and end locations of the flight"
• "the date when the pilot is available to conduct the flight"
• "the licence type held by the pilot"
• "the class of medical certificate or medical declaration held by the pilot"
• "the total number of hours flown by the pilot"
• "the total number of hours flown by the pilot in the advertised aircraft type in the three months prior to the advertisement being placed."

For non-Part-21 aircraft, ANO 2016 art. 13(3) has the same list, allows the advert to be placed "by the pilot or operator of the flight", and refers to "CAT or PT safety standards".

The rules don't define "promotion", but a notice on the clubhouse board, a club WhatsApp message or a newsletter post could well count, and they don't say whether a casual mention in conversation does. If you're inviting people to share costs on a particular flight, the cautious approach is to include every item. CAP 1590, para 23, also says flights "should not be advertised as an offering of a flight to any destination and time at the determination of a passenger." See advertising cost-sharing flights for examples.

Before you fly

• Confirm the club allows cost sharing and passengers on the aircraft you're hiring.
• Get confirmation that the club's insurance covers cost-sharing flights with passengers.
• Use the hire charge as the rental figure, capped at the local market rate for the type.
• Don't add fuel to a wet rate, and keep membership fees out of the split.
• Include all the required details in any club notice or message about the flight.
• Get each passenger's signed declaration before the flight and keep it for six months. Split My Flight collects the declarations online and keeps them with a compliance document for the flight.

For the full list, see the cost sharing compliance checklist.