Authorities → GCAA In development
GCAA — United Arab Emirates
General Civil Aviation Authority. Verified Last confirmed against primary sources on 2026-07-28.
Governing rule. CAR-FCL FCL.050 “Recording of flight time”, retaining EASA-style numbering
Night
End of evening civil twilight to the beginning of morning civil twilight. (CAR-OPS)
Command time
Designated command, with PICUS — the EASA model, confirmed from CAR-FCL. (CAR-FCL)
Cross-country
Different aerodrome, using navigation. No distance threshold. (CAR-FCL)
A three-way split
The UAE scheme is not one framework but three: flight-time limitations follow UK CAP 371, operational recording and recency follow JAR/ICAO practice, and licensing and the logbook page follow EASA Part-FCL. Reading it as “EASA throughout” gets the FTL wrong. (CAR-OPS 1 · Part-ORO · CAR-FCL)
Signature
The commander signs with a PIN. No licence number is required — unlike Qatar. (CAR-FCL)
Every rule above is read from the authority’s own legislation and recorded with the clause it came from. Where we have not confirmed something, the page says so. See all fourteen authorities and their verification state →
Questions
GCAA — asked and answered
Which FTL scheme does the UAE use?
UK CAP 371, not EASA — a block limit of 900 hours in 12 months and a duty ladder of 55, 95 and 190 hours. This surprises people who assume the UAE follows EASA throughout, which it does for licensing and the logbook page but not for flight-time limitations. Figures are indicative — confirm against your Operations Manual. Not legal advice.
How many duty hours can cabin crew be rostered in 28 days under the GCAA?
Cabin crew have their own ladder, and it is higher than the flight-crew one: 210 hours in 28 days where a pilot stops at 190, on a rest floor an hour shorter (11 hours against 12). Under the route-mix variants the annual block limit reaches 1,200 hours against a pilot’s 900. Figures are indicative — confirm against your Operations Manual. Not legal advice.