Does it make sense to add a UK license?

I think there would have to be some tangible benefit for it to be worth it.

Initial issue would require:
1. Some paperwork (probably nothing too bad)
2. Getting a UK medical – hassle and cost
3. Application fees

Then maintenance requires:
1. Revalidation of ratings
2. Updated UK Medicals
3. Keeping up to date with UK rules.

And of course if you bust UK airspace with a UK licence, there is probably more hassle that if you do it a non-UK licence!

So for the hassle/cost, there would have to be a benefit. The only benefit that I can see would be for those flying G reg aircraft.

Late nineties I had an FAA full PPL and converted it to a UK PPL with three exams airlaw, human factors ans something else I forgot :-). The UK was a leading member of JAA on European level. After that it became EASA .pay pay pay…In the beginning I flew yearly with a standby ticket DAT Brasilia from Brussels to Bristol (Bristol Flying Center) , good old days with open cockpit. Did my initial CAA UK medical in 94 or so . and some years beyond that with a fellow called Dr XXXX somewhere around Bristol (he was quite an amazing Dr. he had an engineering degree and had flown RAF lightning jets low level photo missions over eastern Germany). I was quite happy until they started to change the rules for revalidation that it could not be signed off anymore by a foreign examiner. I left with a SOLI transfer due to the above and mainly brexit. I don’t see any added value anymore unless you are flying G-reg (maybe added value for acceptance of FAA STCs? It used to be an enabler now …..?

@Vref I was interested in your phrase “After is became EASA it was pay pay pay.”
Can you elaborate on that?
I started flying, myself, back in the early 1990’s and other than the theory test fees for the IR and my first ELP, I have paid the DGAC, exactly €0. This includes all licences, revalidations and when buying and selling aircraft.
Is France unusual in this?

@gallois I remember to pay fees every time there was a change in the license itself. Btw the SOLI was expensive and pain staking…it took almost a year to process and required a flight with a Belgian examiner and associated costs as I was PPL stateless when my proficiency expired ending up with an empty type rating EASA license, good for nothing with no SEP/TMG as I had before…

Cost UK here:
https://www.caa.co.uk/General-aviation/Pilot-licences/Applications/Process/Licence-fees-and-costs/

gallois wrote:

Is France unusual in this?

Even for the smallest things, the UK CAA charges £60 or £80.

gallois wrote:

Is France unusual in this?

The Polish CAA also charges fees for almost everything, including reissuing licenses with new / changed ratings. Interestingly, the cost increases with the level of license (PPL < CPL < ATPL). The one action I didn’t get charged for is them answering the FAA’s request for validation of my license / ratings.

gallois wrote:

Is France unusual in this?

I think so. E.g. a Swedish PPL costs €40/year just to have. (It used to cost even more.)

I hope there’s no one from the DGAC on this forum🙂

gallois wrote:

I hope there’s no one from the DGAC on this forum

I would guess the difference comes from different government fiscal principles. In Sweden, it is a basic principle that oversight work done by government authorities shall be financed with fees from those overseen, rather than with tax money. That may make sense in some cases, but generally I think it is ridiculous.