Introduction
RocketRoute has enabled all members to prepare and send UK GAR Forms when traveling to or from the UK. Filing a GAR “General Aviation Report” is mandatory both for UK inbound and outbound flights. The Form should be sent in advance of departure. A summary is provided below.
The Form should be sent in advance of departure. According to The General Aviation (Persons on Board, Flight Information and Civil Penalties) Regulations 2024 , the information required must be supplied no earlier than 48 hours and no later than 2 hours prior to the aircraft’s expected departure for or from the United Kingdom.
Arriving into the UK from:
- Outside the GB (excluding NI and Common Travel Area) - 2 hours
- From Ireland and the Channel Islands:
- 12 hours ( If the arrival airport does not have a police designation )
- 2 hours ( If the arrival airport has a police designation )
- From Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man:
- 12 hours ( If the arrival airport does not have a police designation )
Departing from the UK to:
- All destinations (excluding NI and Common Travel Area) - 2 hours
- Ireland and the Channel Islands:
- 12 hours ( If the departure airport does not have a police designation )
- 2 hours ( If the departure airport has a police designation )
- Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man:
- 12 hours ( If the departure airport does not have a police designation )
You can find the full details on the requirements for using a UK Customs GAR form on the UK Government website available here.
How it Works
RocketRoute now sends the filled-out reports directly into the Border Force office system, without sending emails/faxes to the officer
How to Send a GAR Form using RocketRoute
Prepare your flight plan as per normal. For our example let's create a route from Lugano Airport (Switzerland) to London Lutton (UK). (It is the right time to check here our awesome Alps guide!
Built into RocketRoute is the logic to inform you if you need to complete a GAR Form. This will be present on the Prepare Plan Summary page as shown as “UK Customs GAR Form”.
After clicking this menu, you will be able to add passengers and cabin crew and to complete the relevant passport details for each person.
Above this row you will see a menu option titled “Passengers”. This is the menu for adding and managing Passengers and Cabin Crew. For larger customers RocketRoute offers Crew schedule integration to allow this to be auto-populated.
Open “Passengers” menu. Then select the Passengers and Cabin Crew to include. Click the Select drop down to select a passenger to be included (if already setup). Or click the + button to add a new Passenger.
Repeat this process for Cabin Crew if required.
Press Save and return to the Prepare Plan Summary Page. A popup will appear asking to confirm any changes to the Persons on Board field of the Flight Plan. Press OK.
Now click UK Customs GAR Form.
This will load a page similar to Passengers except it will display a Tick or a Cross beside each Passenger. If a Cross is displayed it means some details are missing about the Passenger needed for the GAR Form.
Click this row to edit the user and add the missing details. Click Save when done and return to the GAR page. Repeat for all Passengers and Cabin Crew.
Next scroll to the bottom of the page and check that the GAR specific fields for:
- Operator/Owner
- Reason for Visit
- Usual Base
- Aircraft in Free Circulation in the EU
On this page you will be able to read the Guidance Notes, full GAR instructions UK GOV Website . Just click on the menu Guidance Notes.
When you are ready, click Preview.
This will open a Preview field displaying the GAR Form that will be sent.
If you click Print it will generate a PDF version. This will also be added to your Briefing Pack if ticked under Account Settings.
Here is the example of a GAR form which is sent out.
If satisfied, click Send. This will transmit the GAR Form to the relevant authorities. If preferred you can send the form yourself via fax or email using the print version.
If you any questions please contact our team at support@rocketroute.com