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Civil penalties guidance for general aviation (accessible)

Updated 19 December 2024

Version 2.0

October 2024

Publication

Information on when this version of the guidance was published:

• Version 2.0 – This guidance document has been updated to reflect the process for civil penalties against owners or agents and captains for breaches of the General Aviation (Persons on Board, Flight Information and Civil Penalties) Regulations 2024. A list of frequently asked questions has also been included at the end of this document.

• Published October 2024

About this guidance

The guidance applies to all owners or agents and captains responsible for General Aviation flights to and from the UK. It sets out the civil penalty process followed by the National Penalties Unit in the event of a breach of a requirement of the General Aviation (Flight information, Persons on Board and Civil Penalties) Regulations 2024 (“the 2024 Regulations”) where the owner or agent and captain may be liable to a civil penalty under the Passenger, Crew and Service Information (Civil Penalties) Regulations 2015.

Contacts

If you have any questions about this guidance contact: [email protected]

Introduction

The 2024 Regulations require owners or agents and captains to provide Advance Passenger Information (API) online and in advance of flights departing to or from the UK. Processing of complete, accurate and timely API is an essential part of the UK’s approach to border security.

Travel document information, required for passengers and crew, and processed in advance of travel, supports pre-departure watchlisting to prevent travel to (or from) the UK in accordance with the Authority to Carry Scheme 2023 or to alert Border Force to an arriving (or departing) subject of interest.

The provision of API also supports the operation of the UK’s Universal Permission to Travel Scheme which requires all individuals intending to travel to the UK to have permission to do so. Whether an individual has a valid permission can be confirmed to a GA owner or agent and captain using system-to-system messaging.

Missing, incomplete, inaccurate or late data risks individuals posing threats to the UK or to UK interests being able to travel or to travel undetected. GA owners or agents and captains who fail to comply with information requirements in the 2024 Regulations may liable to a civil penalty of up to £10,000 under the Passenger, Crew and Service Information (Civil Penalties) Regulations 2015 (“the 2015 Regulations”).

This guidance explains the requirements on GA owners or agents and captains to provide passenger, crew and service information and the civil penalty regime in place in the event of a failure to comply with such a requirement.

Information requirements

GA owners or agents and captains are required to provide information about international flights and persons on board to the Home Office in accordance with the General Aviation (Persons on Board, Flight Information and Civil Penalties) Regulations 2024 (“the 2024 Regulations”).

In accordance with the 2024 Regulations, the person responsible for the flight is required to:

• Provide specified information about the flight and persons on board;
• Provide specified information within a specified time;
• Provide the specified information in a specified form and manner, and
• To be able to receive from the Secretary of State, during the relevant period, communications by telephone or email relating to the information.

Responsible person

Regulation 2(2) of the 2024 Regulations requires a ‘responsible person’ to provide the specified information about the flight and persons on board. Responsible person is defined in Paragraph 27BA (5) of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971:

“For the purposes of this paragraph, the following are responsible persons in respect of a ship or aircraft — (a) the owner or agent, and (b) the captain”

Specified information

For all international GA flights, the following fields of information must be provided in respect of each person on board:

• full name, including middle names as displayed in the Visual Inspection Zone (VIZ) or Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) of the travel document

• sex

• date of birth

• nationality

• type of travel document

• number of travel document

• expiry date of travel document

• issuing state of travel document However for flights operating to and from the UK within the Common Travel Area, only the following information is specified for British and Irish citizens:

• full name (including middle names as displayed in the VIZ or MRZ of the travel document)

• sex

• date of birth

• nationality

For all flights, the information must show whether each person onboard is the captain of the aircraft, a member of crew or a passenger.

For all flights, the following flight information must also be provided:

• the aircraft registration mark

• the aircraft type

• the aircraft’s home aerodrome or usual base expressed as an ICAO location indicator or IATA code or, where neither is available, a co-ordinate

• expected departure date

• expected departure time

• expected arrival date

• expected arrival time

• the place from which the flight is departing or departed immediately prior to arrival in the United Kingdom expressed by reference to:

(i) an ICAO location indicator

(ii) an IATA code, or

(iii) a co-ordinate (where neither an ICAO location indicator or IATA code is available)

• the number of persons on board the aircraft; and

• the name, address, email address and contact telephone number of the responsible person

Some operators of commercial GA flights, as part of their check-in process, have introduced scanners or document readers to obtain the specified information from the travel documents of the persons intending to be onboard. The API provided must match the information displayed in the VIZ or the MRZ of the travel document(s) presented by the passengers and crew members to be on board. The information provided about the flight must also correspond to the specific flight being made.

Specified time

The information about the flight and persons onboard must be submitted no earlier than 48 hours and no later than 2 hours prior to expected time of departure.

In the event additional passengers or crew intend to travel or there is an aircraft change or change to the arriving or departing aerodrome, the information about the flight and persons on board must be amended and resubmitted no later than 2 hours before expected time of departure.

Specified form and manner

The responsible person must submit information about the flight and persons on board online.

The following are the accepted submission methods:

• the Government’s submit a GAR (‘sGAR’) webservice, or

• via an existing, Home Office certified third-party application or system listed on gov.uk

Ability to receive relevant communications

Following the submission of information about the flight and persons on board, the responsible person must be able to receive, during the relevant period communications from Border Force on behalf of the Secretary of State via the telephone number or email address provided under paragraph 3(k) of the Schedule to the 2024 Regulations

The relevant period which communications may be sent to the responsible person is from the time when the information about the flight and persons on board is submitted until the expected time of departure.

Circumstances where the responsible person must be able to receive communications from Border Force includes (but is not limited to) refusals of authority to carry an individual to (or from) the UK under the Authority to Carry Scheme 2023.

The Passenger, Crew and Service Information (Civil Penalties) Regulations 2015

The Home Office will work with owners or agents and captains to ensure they meet their obligations with regard to the requirements of the 2024 Regulations. However, in the event of non-compliance it is important the Home Office has the ability to enforce compliance and penalise failure to do so. The 2015 Regulations provide that appropriate sanctions may be imposed when there is a breach or repeated breaches of the requirements of the 2024 Regulations.

Owners or agents and captains must comply with the 2024 Regulations. Where compliance concerns are identified by Border Force, the owner or agent and captain will be expected to resolve the issue in advance of their next flight to or from the UK.

Failure to comply could include:

• Failing to provide required information about the flight and persons on board.

• Failing to provide accurate information about the flight and persons on board.

• Failing to provide the information by the specified time.

• Failing to provide the information in the specified form and manner.

Where Border Force identify a potential breach of the 2024 Regulations, the responsible person will be served with a GA Notice. This will detail the breach identified and signpost the responsible person to guidance on gov.uk on how to comply with the 2024 Regulations.

Non-compliance is managed by the Border Force National Penalty Unit which will investigate cases where a breach of the 2024 Regulations has been identified. This may result in the responsible person being issued with a Notice of Potential Liability. This is a formal notice setting out the nature of the breach and explaining the potential liability for a civil penalty of up to £10,000.

If, following the Notice of Potential Liability, the owner or agent or the captain wish to submit representations, these must be provided within 30 days from the date of the Notice of Potential Liability and sent to the National Penalties Unit by email to: [email protected]. Making representations provides owners and agents or the captain with the opportunity to set out the reasons for the breach and provide information about any mitigating circumstances at an early stage.

This does not affect the responsible person’s statutory rights under the 2015 Regulations to make a formal objection to a penalty notice or to appeal to the courts.

The National Penalties Unit will consider any representations and may decide to pursue a civil penalty and, if so, the amount to be charged.

The Penalty Notice is a written notice outlining the Secretary of State’s reasons for deciding to require the responsible person to pay a penalty and setting out the amount of the penalty, the date on which it is issued and the date and method by which the penalty must be paid. It also outlines the steps a responsible person may take to object to the penalty decision and an explanation of the steps the Secretary of State may take to recover any unpaid penalty.

The National Penalties Unit may issue a Warning Notice in place of a Penalty Notice where the responsible person has demonstrated there were mitigating circumstances or where it is the first occasion when the responsible person has breached the 2024 Regulations.

Deliberate breaches of the 2024 Regulations

In any case where evidence indicates there was deliberate wrongdoing, the civil penalty process will be initiated by the service of a Notice of Potential Liability and the maximum penalty will be considered appropriate.

Criminal sanction

In cases where Border Force are unable to pursue a civil penalty against the responsible person, a criminal sanction may be considered appropriate.

Section 27(1)(b)(iv) of the Immigration Act 1971 makes failure to comply with an information requirement made under Schedule 2 to the Act, without a reasonable excuse a criminal offence punishable on summary conviction with a fine of not more than £5,000 or imprisonment for not more than six months.

Carriers’ liability

Nothing in this guidance, nor the provision of timely, accurate and complete data, affects liability under Section 40 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (as amended) for charges that might arise for the carriage to the UK of inadequately documented passengers. For further information on Section 40 charges, please see the relevant guidance on gov.uk.

Administering financial penalties

Determining the level of financial penalty

The type of breach will determine the level of financial penalty imposed and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The following criteria will be used when determining the penalty amount.

Scale 1	Penalty amount	Scale 2
Scale 1 Fixed Penalty	£2,500
Scale 1 Fixed Penalty – high risk	£5,000	Entry level Scale 2
	£7,500
	£10,000

Scale 1 penalties

These breaches are data field errors or omissions about the flight or the individuals on board. These include (but are not limited to):

• Incorrect aircraft registration mark

• Incorrect arriving or departing aerodrome

• Misspelling of a name

• Incorrect date of birth or document expiry date

• Incorrect document number.

These breach types will incur a fixed penalty of £2,500. If the responsible person incurred 3 scale 1 penalties on 3 occasions, the penalty amount will then increase to a scale 1 high-risk fixed penalty.

Scale 2 penalties

These breaches include (but are not limited to):

• Failure to comply with the timing requirements (late or early information provided about the flight and persons on board) 

• Failure to submit information about the flight and persons on board (No information about the flight and persons on board received)

• Failure to submit information in the required form and manner. 

• Failure to receive during the relevant period, communications relating to that information from the Secretary of State via telephone or the email address provided.

Scale 2 breaches will incur a penalty starting at £5,000, increasing for subsequent breaches up to a maximum of £10,000.

Breaches of the 2024 Regulations will be kept on file for 3 years. This means if the responsible person has been penalised the maximum penalty amount of £10,000 and subsequently breaches a requirement of the 2024 Regulations within 3 years of the date of the last breach, the penalty amount will be £10,000.

Where a breach occurs more than 3 years since the responsible person’s previous breach, and a penalty is issued, the penalty amount will start at the lowest point on the scale.

Payment of the civil penalty

The responsible person has 28 days from being served with the Penalty Notice to pay the penalty. The Penalty Notice will state the reasons for imposing the penalty and the due date will be clearly marked on the notice. It will also explain the payment methods available, the date by which payment must be made and an explanation of how to object to the penalty imposed. If the penalty is not paid by the deadlines given, enforcement action may be taken.

Objection

The Penalty Notice will detail how to object to the decision. Any objection to the notice must be received by the National Penalties Unit within 28 days from the date on the notice. Any objection must be in writing, give the reasons for the objection, and be given to the Home Office in the manner set out in the Penalty Notice. The matters raised in the objection will be reviewed and may result in either:

a. The penalty being cancelled,

b. The penalty being reduced,

c. The penalty being increased, or

d. The penalty being maintained.

The responsible person will be notified of the outcome in writing no later than 70 days following the date on which the original penalty notice was issued in an Objection Outcome Notification (or a longer period agreed by the Home Office). This Notification will state the amount of penalty following the consideration of the objection, the reasons for the decision, the date and method by which the penalty should be paid, an explanation of the steps the Secretary of State may take to recover the penalty, and an explanation of appeal rights.

Appeal

If, following an objection, the Home Office reduces the penalty, maintains the penalty or increases the penalty, the responsible person may appeal to the Court within 28 days of the Objection Outcome Notification. Details on how to do this will be included outlined in the Objection Outcome Notification.

Frequently Asked Questions for Airfield Owners and Operators

Q. Do the 2024 regulations require information about domestic flights?

No. The requirement to provide information online about the flight and persons on board applies to international flights only. This includes flights between the UK and locations within the Common Travel Area. Information about the flight and persons on board is not required for domestic flights, including flights between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Q. Are passenger and crew member’s middle names required to be provided?

Yes. An individual’s full name must be provided. This includes first name, middle names (their given names) and surname (their family name).

Some operators may scan travel documents. In these circumstances the name displayed in the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) will be accepted.

Where an individual’s full name is manually entered on the GAR, pilots owners and operators must provide the full name as displayed on the VIZ (Visual Inspection Zone) on the bio-data page of their passport.

Q. Can the flight depart at the time submitted when there are last minute bookings or changes less than 2 hours before the expected time of departure?

No. Information about the flight and persons on board must be submitted no earlier than 48 hours and no later than 2 hours prior to the expected time of departure. In the event of any last-minute bookings and additional persons onboard the information about the persons onboard must be provided no later than 2 hours prior to the expected time of departure.

Q. Do I need to amend the information about the flight and persons on board if I depart earlier but on the same day?

Early departure is possible but only where the required information has been provided no later than 2 hours prior to expected time of departure. Providing you have complied with the 2-hour requirement, and you are departing on the same calendar day, the captain can depart earlier than planned.

Q. In the event of a crew change, aircraft change or change to arriving/departing aerodrome, would the captain be required to delay their departure time?

Yes. In the event of any additional crew, aircraft change or change to arriving/departing aerodrome the information about the flight and persons on board must be amended – and provided no later than 2 hours before departure.

Q. If the information about the flight and persons on board has been submitted but a discrepancy is identified and an amendment needs to be made, does the captain have to delay the flight by 2 hours?

Yes, the information provided must be accurate. Where there is a discrepancy identified e.g. incorrect date of birth less than two-hours prior to expected time of departure, the information must be amended, and the captain must delay the flight by 2 hours to comply with the requirements of the regulations.

Q. If a passenger or crew member is no longer travelling on the flight, is a new or amended submission required?

No. When an individual is no longer travelling, there is no requirement to amend or create a new submission.

Q. Are there exceptions to the regulations for emergency medical flights?

Border Force takes a pragmatic approach to emergency medical flights where compliance with the 2-hour window isn’t always possible. There may also be occasions where the information about an individual onboard, for example an accident victim, is not known in advance of the flight departing.

In any emergency where life is at risk, and a flight needs to operate with less than 2 hours notice or without the information about the individual on board, Border Force will not penalise non-compliance with the regulations.

Q. If an individual on board is a dual national, can both documents be provided on the GAR?

Yes. Where an individual has dual nationality, both passports can be included on the GAR submission.

Q. If an individual has multiple valid passports, can these be provided on the GAR?

Yes. Where an individual has more than one active passport, these can be included on the GAR submission.

Q. What if the sGAR service and/or approved third-party applications are all unavailable due to planned maintenance or unplanned technical issues?

If you need to submit a GAR during this period, you must download and complete a GAR form found on gov.uk - Providing information about international general aviation flights.

The GAR forms must be submitted directly to the National Co-Ordination Unit (NCU) at [email protected]

GAR forms must only be submitted to this email address during the period sGAR and approved third-party applications are unavailable.

If there is a maintenance outage specific for any third-party applications, the free government Submit a General Aviation Report (sGAR) service can be used - Providing information about international general aviation flights.

Alternatively other approved third-party applications listed on gov.uk can be used a but may incur a service charge.

In all circumstances GARs must be submitted from 48 hours and no later than 2 hours prior to the aircraft’s expected time of departure.

Q What if given name and/or surname has special characters – should these be added?

No. Special characters like hyphens, apostrophes, national characters (e.g. umlauts) should not be included in your name fields as this will cause your GAR to be rejected a. Only Latin-Alphabet values e.g. A-Z will be accepted.

Special characters further add to the designated given name and surname character value so should not be included.

Q. What if an individual’s name exceeds the 35-characters on sGAR?

If the name exceeds 35-characters, add the name characters until the maximum value is reached.

On the customs declarations page on sGAR in the field labelled ‘Please add any further information about arrival for Border Force consideration’, add your full name - all given names and surname with a comment that surname exceeded 35-character limit.

Please do not include any special characters e.g. hyphens, apostrophes.

Q. What do I do in circumstances where an individual has one given name but does not have a surname or it is not clear if the one name is given name or surname?

If a passenger or crew member does not have a surname, please type UNKNOWN in full in the given name field on the GAR and add name into surname field.