General Aviation Report (GAR)

Introduction

A General Aviation Report (GAR) is a notification system employed by the United Kingdom and Channel Islands to facilitate the entry of exit of General Aviation aircraft. As the United Kingdom is not a member of the Schengen Area, every flight from and to the UK is subject to border control. Typically this would require flying from/to a port of entry but as a convenience, GA aircraft can use any airfield in the UK (licensed and licensed) if they provide an upfront notice in form of a GAR.

autorouter integration

autorouter contains a rule engine that determines if a flight plan is subject to a GAR. If a flight is recognized as requiring a GAR, an additional section called “General Aviation Report” is displayed. There you may provide details about your flight and the persons on board. Each person has a role:

  • captain
  • crew
  • passenger

Flights to/from the UK have to have one of the predefined purposes:

  • Short term visit
  • Based (the aircraft is based in the destination country)
  • Maintenance
  • Permanent import

If a person’s home address is outside the UK, a visiting address in the UK is to be supplied. You may choose to remember the personal details for each person for future GARs.

When filing a flight plan for which GAR information was provided, you can choose what to do with the GAR:

  • send to NCU (the central distributor for Border Force and/or Police)
  • send to yourself only
  • don’t generate a GAR

If you choose to generate a GAR, it will be sent via email to either NCU (you will be in copy) or just yourself in which case you have to forward it manually. The GAR is provided as a Microsoft Excel sheet as per UK government instructions.

In case NCU notification is chosen, autorouter also informs NCU of all cancel, delay and bring forward events. The emails to NCU also contain the flight tracking link, giving them further options to keep updated on your expected arrival.

References

Authoritative information can be found on the UK government web site: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/general-aviation-operators-and-pilots-notification-of-flights

 

Note: The GAR process only applies to the UK side of the flight. Usually border control is required in the other country as well and is subject to the country’s rules which are not discussed here. Make sure you are always in compliance.