Public Transport or Aerial Work?

Flights are classed either as public transport or aerial work and it is important to understand distinction between them.

Public transport

There are important legal requirements to consider when paying for a flight. The CAA advise that under UK regulations, the flight is deemed to be public transport if payment is made for the carriage of passengers or cargo in the aircraft on the flight. A passenger is defined as a person other than aircrew, therefore your cameraman, director or other members of your production team are classed as passengers and the flight will be public transport. If the flight is classed as public transport, then the company you are using must have an Air Operator's Certificate or AOC.

Aerial work

If the flight is not classed as public transport as in the definition above, then it is classed as aerial work. For example, if you are commissioning aerial photography from a company and they are using their own camera equipment, operator and pilot all of who are employed by the company, then payment for this service counts as paying for aerial work and the operator does not need to have an AOC.

The CAA have a very useful summary document explaining this.

CAA summary of the meaning of Public Transport and Aerial Work