The CAA has published new information on the acquisition of a Light Aircraft Pilots Licence (LAPL Medical from your General Practitioner when the new licence comes into force on September 17.

Information for GPs about the LAPL Medical Certificate and NPPL Medical Declaration

The Medical will also be available from AMEs.

The LAPL will be the nearest thing we have to a Europe-wide NPPL and should be attainable by the vast majority of pilots who currently fly on an NPPL Medical Declaration. Its advantages over an NPPL are two-fold, firstly it enables you to operate outside of UK, Channel Island and Eire airspace (which is currently only open to NPPL Microlight holders), and secondly from 65 years of age a LAPL Medical lasts for two years instead of the NPPL Medical Declaration’s one year.

For Class Two Medical holders flying on a PPL, the LAPL offers an alternate licence with a somewhat less arduous Medical. Unless the restrictions of  MTOM of 2000kg, three passenger seats, European airspace only and no flight in IMC are prohibitive to the kind of flying you undertake, then it is a useful option.