General Aviation Report (GAR) Procedures

We have recently heard that several Irish pilots are in the process of being prosecuted for not filing GAR forms when travelling to the UK or to Northern Ireland. The fine for not filing a form, filling it incorrectly or submitting false information is up to £2000!

A UK GAR form can now be submitted online at www.GOV.UK/submit-gar

If you use Skydemon you can also file a GAR form in-app. Once you have planned your flight, SkyDemon will prompt you to file a GAR. Select the spanner symbol next to the message and follow the instructions.

Click image below to view full size.

It is a requirement that all General Aviation flights inbound into the UK are notified by means of submitting a General Aviation Report (GAR) in advance of your arrival into the UK.

It is also a requirement to submit a GAR for outbound flights to the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and any destination outside the EU.

The minimum notification periods for submitting a GAR are:

Outbound to EU countries (excluding Republic of Ireland) – No GAR needed for UK Authorities
Inbound from EU countries (excluding Republic of Ireland) – 4 hours prior to arrival
To/From the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man – 12 hours prior to departure/arrival
To/From other non-EU countries – 24 hours prior to departure/arrival

The official information relating to the UK GAR requirements can be found here.

The UK Government Free ‘Submit a GAR’ online platform is now available.

GARs can be completed by visiting www.GOV.UK/submit-gar

It is free to use and designed for the whole GA community, including FBOs.
No more faxing or emailing required.
Upon submission — GAR’s will be received by Border Force and Police.

The platform has additional benefits including:

When a GAR has been submitted, users will receive a transmission reference number.
Users will be able to upload corresponding documents, to help make travelling through the UK border even easier.
All GARs can be managed from a single platform and your previous details will be saved, making submitting a GAR even quicker.
Users can create draft GARs for future travel.

Border Force is bringing in new GA legislation in 2020 that will mandate for GAR data to be submitted using only electronic methods. GARs emailed or faxed will no longer be acceptable or comply with the new legislation.

Using this new digital service ‘Submit a GAR’ will comply with the incoming legislation.

AOPA has published this guide to Flying Abroad which makes useful reading.

A submitted GAR does NOT provide PPR to an aerodrome where that is separately required NOR does it replace a Flight Plan.

Emergency General Aviation Report (GAR) Telephone Line

Emergency General Aviation Report (GAR) Telephone Line (0845 723 1110) OR (SWITCHBOARD: 0300 123 2012) : If you need to submit or amend a GAR for Border Force purposes in an emergency situation, you may call the GAR Emergency Telephone Line on +44 (0) 845 723 1110 OR Switchboard: +44 (0) 300 123 2012 from abroad.

The emergency telephone line may only be used for a flight that is:

not required to report to the police under the Terrorism Act 2000; and
outside the GAR reporting timescales.

An emergency may be described as:

medical emergency of a pilot/passenger; or
air ambulance with critical passenger; or other emergencies requiring a change to information contained within an already submitted GAR; or
last minute changes to a submitted GAR, only when changes to online version are not possible.

This telephone line is strictly only for the purposes listed above. For all other GA enquiries please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/general-aviation