The new rules still sound quite reasonable. If I compare it with flying from/into Switzerland (from/to smaller aerodromes without permanent customs), the GAR procedure from/into UK is less hassle, even though the new “2 hours prior departure” rule.
UK inbound flights: 4h before landing = 2h before departure on 2h flights 
It’s 2h before departure UK outbound that is problematic…
boscomantico wrote:
Interestingly, flights from NI to the EU still require no GAR….
This is entirely unsurprising actually as the UK would be in breach of the NI protocol. After the UK Parliament voted to leave the European Union, all parties said that they want to avoid a hard border in Ireland, due particularly to the border’s historically sensitive nature. Border issues were one of three areas of focused negotiation in the Withdrawal Agreement. Following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020, this border is also the frontier between the EU and an external country. The Northern Ireland Protocol of the Brexit withdrawal agreement commits the UK and the EU to maintaining an open border in Ireland, so that (in many respects) the de facto frontier is the Irish Sea border between the two islands. This requires the continued application of the Common Travel Area as well as free trade of goods (including electricity) between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The latter requires the UK to follow EU law in Northern Ireland with respect to these areas, with jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the interpretation of the law. Anything that would even hint at the establishment of a border would be rather inflammatory (in the case of NI often literally)
boscomantico wrote:
Interestingly, flights from NI to the EU still require no GAR
Depends on which part of the EU you are talking about!
A GAR has always been and continues to be required for flights from NI to the Republic of Ireland, under the UK Terrorism Act, and is also required on the Republic’s side through some bastardisation of customs rules (for which those rules were never intended).
Sure. In the UK GAR concept, “EU” is always = “EU (except RoI)”.
dublinpilot wrote:
A GAR has always been and continues to be required for flights from NI to the Republic of Ireland, under the UK Terrorism Ac
Have they ever explained how this is compatible with the Good Friday Agreement?
alioth wrote:
Have they ever explained how this is compatible with the Good Friday Agreement?
I suppose it’s never been questioned.
But it doesn’t seem to be in conflict with the GFA to me.
People in both communities in NI are being treated in the same was as if they were British or as if they were Irish. In both case, a trip to the UK to ROI or ROI to UK requires a GAR and 12 hours notice.
In essence the GFA agreement allowed people to choose if they considered themselves Irish or British, and not to be treated any worse for that decision.
dublinpilot wrote:
In essence the GFA agreement allowed people to choose if they considered themselves Irish or British, and not to be treated any worse for that decision.
A technocrat’s wet dream these changes as previously the common travel area would have solved for exactly the above but since Brexit a GAR would be required for travel to the UK but not for travel to Europe or vice versa..
Brexit has not changed anything re the GAR.
This change, a year after brexit, is that one needs to chuck in a GAR to go UK → mainland, which is a slight extra hassle…
It also means that if the Plod don’t like something on the GAR, they will call you at 3am and tell you that you “do not have permission” to travel. So flights like the first two here, at very short notice, won’t be possible.
they will call you at 3am and tell you that you “do not have permission” to travel
I doubt they can, it still a notification system (you can just pretend you did not see anything and sort it after you are back ), however, you can be “held on the ramp” if they turn up before your ETA for whatever counts as reasonable, 30min is a good number?
Which means you can’t plan to just turn up with aircraft fuelled & everything packed and fly (I know some people need 1h to prime an IO540 and remove chocks but some only need 5min from parking to start taxi in their own aircraft 
)
