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1
Are you flying as a private individual, not employed or contracted as the pilot?
NCO.GEN.102(d)-(e); ANO art. 13(2)(d)-(e)
Yes ↓
No →
This cannot be a cost-shared flight. A company, or a pilot paid to fly, needs a commercial operation.
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2
Is it a non-complex motor-powered aircraft - a Part-21 aeroplane or helicopter, or a UK-registered permit aircraft or microlight?
UK Reg 965/2012 Art. 6(4a); ANO art. 13; CAP 1590 para 9
Yes ↓
No →
Cost sharing only covers other-than-complex motor-powered aircraft. Sailplanes and balloons have their own rules.
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3
Will there be six or fewer people on board, including you?
NCO.GEN.102(a); ANO art. 13(2)(a); FCL.105.A; ANO Sch. 8; ANO Sch. 1 para 4
Yes ↓
No →
Too many people. The limit is six - or four on a LAPL(A) or NPPL(A), and two in a microlight.
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4
Are passengers only contributing to fuel, oil, airfield charges and aircraft hire at the market rate?
NCO.GEN.102(b); Art. 2(12)
Yes ↓
No →
Annual costs like insurance, maintenance and club fees must be paid by you, and there can be no profit.
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5
Is each passenger paying no more than an equal share, so you pay at least yours?
NCO.GEN.102(c); CAP 1590 para 27
Yes ↓
No →
Re-split the costs. Passengers can pay less than an equal share, never more.
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6
If you advertised the flight, did you place the advert yourself with all seven required details?
NCO.GEN.102(i); ANO art. 13(3)
Yes ↓
No →
Fix the advert first: it needs the safety statement, route, date, licence, medical, total hours and recent hours on type.
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7
Has every passenger been told the flight doesn't meet commercial safety standards, and signed a declaration before flying?
NCO.GEN.102(f)-(h); AMC1 NCO.GEN.102(g)
Yes ↓
No →
Collect the declarations before take-off and keep them for six months. Current or former licence holders are exempt.
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8
Are you current to carry passengers and insured for cost sharing?
FCL.060(b); CAP 1590 paras 14-15
Yes ↓
No →
You need three take-offs, approaches and landings in the last 90 days in the class or type, and insurance that covers cost sharing.
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You can fly it as a cost-shared flight.
Keep the passenger declarations for six months from the date of the flight, and be ready to show them to a CAA-authorised person or a constable.
A flight is a legal UK cost-shared flight only if every answer in the flowchart above is yes. A single no means either fixing something before you fly, or that the flight can't be flown as a cost-shared flight at all.
The questions follow the conditions in NCO.GEN.102 (for Part-21 aircraft) and article 13 of the Air Navigation Order 2016 (for permit aircraft and microlights). NCO.GEN.102 was inserted and article 13 rewritten from 1 October 2025, and the CAA explains them in CAP 1590. For a fuller walk-through of each condition, read CAP 1590 and the cost sharing rules explained.
Why each question matters
Private individual, unpaid pilot. Cost sharing is a derogation for cost-shared flights by private individuals (Article 6(4a)(a)). If a company is behind the flight, or you are being paid to fly it, the flight is commercial.
Six people, or fewer. The cap of six includes you. Your licence can lower it: LAPL(A) and NPPL(A) holders can carry at most four people in total, and microlights are designed for two. See the six-person limit.
Direct costs only. The list is closed: fuel, oil, airfield charges and aircraft rental at the current market rate. Everything else, including insurance and maintenance, is yours to pay. What counts as a direct cost? covers the grey areas.
Equal share as a ceiling for passengers. Each passenger can contribute no more than the total direct costs divided by everyone on board. You can pay more so they pay less, but never the other way round. The cost sharing calculator does the sums.
Advertising. If you promote the flight anywhere, the advert must be placed by you and include seven specific details. Advertising cost-sharing flights lists them with an example.
Passenger declarations. Every passenger must be told the flight doesn't meet commercial air transport safety standards and sign to accept that before the flight, and you must keep the record for six months. What passengers must sign explains the exemptions. Split My Flight collects these declarations online and stores them for you, free.
Currency and insurance. Ordinary passenger-carrying rules still apply: three take-offs, approaches and landings in the previous 90 days (FCL.060(b)(1)). CAP 1590 (guidance), para 14, also makes it the pilot's responsibility to ensure the flight is insured for cost sharing.
Print it, or use the checklist
If you'd rather tick boxes than follow arrows, the printable compliance checklist covers the same ground in the order you'll meet it: before advertising, before the flight and afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
- What happens if my flight fails one of the conditions?
- It is no longer a cost-shared flight. Carrying passengers for valuable consideration outside the cost-sharing rules is public transport or commercial air transport, which needs an Air Operator Certificate, and both the operator and the pilot in command can be prosecuted.
- Do the rules apply if my friends aren't paying anything?
- A commercial operation is one 'in return for remuneration or other valuable consideration' (Air Operations Regulation, Article 2(1d)), so a flight where nobody gives you anything of value is not one. ANO article 13(1)(a) also mentions flights where 'there has been no valuable consideration', but article 13 still requires the paragraph (2) criteria to be satisfied. As soon as passengers contribute towards costs, every cost-sharing condition applies.
- Does a flight that lands back where it started count?
- Yes. The same conditions apply to local A-to-A flights and to A-to-B trips. None of the conditions in NCO.GEN.102 or ANO article 13 is a 'common purpose' requirement.
This guide summarises the CAA's published guidance and is not legal advice. Always check the latest version of CAP 1590 before you fly. Compliance remains the responsibility of the pilot in command.
Related guides
CAP 1590 and the cost sharing rules explained
What CAP 1590 is, where the UK cost sharing rules come from, and what each NCO.GEN.102 condition means for a private pilot flying with passengers.
What counts as a direct cost on a cost-sharing flight?
The four costs UK passengers can share (fuel, oil, airfield charges, market-rate rental), what's excluded, and the grey areas pilots should treat cautiously.
Cost-sharing compliance checklist (printable)
A printable checklist for UK pilots covering every cost-sharing requirement: advertising, sharing costs, passenger declarations, currency and record keeping.
Cost sharing vs charter: when you need an AOC
How a cost sharing flight differs from commercial air transport, when an AOC and a CPL are needed, what valuable consideration means, and the penalties.