Written question asked by Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 8 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 10 November 2005. It was answered by Karen Buck (Labour) on Wednesday, 16 November 2005 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Commercial Aviation (Duty Hours)

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the annual limit is for duty hours for commercial aviation (a) pilots and (b) flight crew under the EU Flight Time Limitations.

Answer: There is currently no EC legislation establishing detailed flight time limitations for the flight crew of commercial aircraft. However, draft legislation on airline operational standards under consideration by the EC includes flight and duty time limitations and rest requirements. This legislation will impose an annual limit on flight duty time of 900 hours (pilots and flight crew). In addition Council Directive 2000/79/EC, which implements an industry agreement on working time for mobile staff in civil aviation (pilots and flight crew), establishes a limit of 2,000 hours for total duty time and a limit of 900 hours for flight duty time.

Secondary information