Great Western Coffee Shop

Since its formation in 1972, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, or CAA, has been responsible for overseeing aviation in Britain, including airlines and pilots, aircraft producers and engineers, and air traffic controllers and aerodromes. The CAA also regulates what are known as Air Travel Organisers’ Licences, which must be held by all travel companies in the UK. As the CAA oversees all types of aircraft in Britain, this means that hot air balloons and their pilots have to comply with CAA regulations to remain within the law.

The CAA came into being as an independent regulator and public corporation in 1972, before which a body known as the Air Registration Board was responsible for regulating aviation. The establishment of the new authority was recommended by a Parliamentary committee and was associated with regulations contained within the Civil Aviation Act 1971. Since then, the Civil Aviation Act of 1982 has superseded the 1971 version and, in 2001, air traffic control became a separate organisation under public/private partnership.