Fuel

Fuel rules

The rules covering minimum fuel requirements changed on 8 November 2018.

AOC and Part 141 certificate holders – if you had an existing certificate in force on 7 November 2018, you have until 28 February 2019 to comply with the new rules.

Otherwise you must comply with the new rules now.

Who do the rules apply to?

• Pilots of Australian aircraft
• Operators of Australian aircraft

Why change the rules?

• enhance aviation safety
• remove uncertainty between rules and guidance material
• better reflect industry views and international standards for fuel requirements.

What are the main changes?

• re-introduces a fixed fuel reserve requirement
• reduces reserve requirements for day visual flight rules (VFR) for small piston or turboprop aeroplanes
• requires pilots to conduct in-flight fuel management with regular fuel quantity checks and, if required, declare Mayday Fuel
• introduces 'additional fuel' which simplifies the planning requirements for fuel contingencies
• more closely aligns Australia’s fuel rules with the International Civil Aviation Organization standards and recommended practices.

Many pilots and operators are already complying with the new rules as they have been in our guidelines for some time. These changes remove uncertainty by clarifying what you must legally do.

Explaining the rules

We have released guidance material and updated existing documents to help explain how the changes work in practice.

For private pilots operating under visual flight rules (VFR) only visit the fuel requirements and fuel planning pages in the Visual Flight Rules Guide (VFRG).

For more complex operations, CAAP 234-1(2) covers aircraft fuel requirements and includes sample calculations

• CAAP 234-1(2) (pdf 1.03 MB)
• CAAP 234-1(2) Annex A - sample fuel calculations – single-engine piston aeroplane (Cessna 210) (pdf 267.67 KB)
• CAAP 234-1(2) Annex B - sample fuel calculations – multi-engine turboprop aeroplane (Beechcraft B200) (pdf 326.75 KB)
• CAAP 234-1(2) Annex C - sample fuel calculations – multi-engine turbojet aeroplane (Learjet 60) (pdf 331.33 KB)

For operators, CASA has updated the following documents to assist in preparing or amending your operations manual:

• CAAP 215-1(3) (pdf 461.07 KB)
• Air operator's certificate handbook volume 2 - Flying operations (pdf 1.31 MB) - see chapter 6
• Sample manuals and documents
  • CASR Part 141 sample operations manual and guide - refer to the Part 141 operations manual revision summary v3.1 for a list of updates
  • CASR Part 142 sample exposition and guide - refer to the Part 142 exposition revision summary v3.1 for a list of updates

View the full rules Civil Aviation (Fuel Requirements) Instrument 2018.