You can conduct a passenger carrying flight without holding an AOC if:
- the aircraft has no more than 6 seats, including the pilot’s seat
- you do not receive payment for the flight
- you pay at least your share of the direct costs of the flight, split evenly among all the passengers and the pilot
- you do not advertise the flight to the public.
If you hire an aircraft for the flight, some examples of direct costs are:
- the cost of hiring the aircraft
- the cost of the fuel and oil consumed by the aircraft (if not included in the hire cost)
- the cost of airway and aerodrome fees (if any) for the flight (if not included in the hire cost).
If you do not hire an aircraft for the flight, some examples of direct costs are:
- the fuel and oil consumed by the aircraft
- the airway and aerodrome fees (if any) for the flight.
If you meet these conditions and are not conducting any other kind of operation that requires a certificate from CASA, you can conduct the flight under the rules for private operations. You can do this regardless of the type of pilot licence you hold.
Operations that commonly require a certificate from CASA include:
- Australian air transport operations under Part 119 of CASR
- aerial work operations under Part 138 of CASR
- flying training under Part 141 or Part 142 of CASR.
Advertising
One of the conditions of a cost sharing flight is that you must not advertise the flight to the public.
We will consider it as advertising to the general public if you advertise the flight on a:
- public flight sharing website
- public notice board (whether physical or electronic)
- social media.
In this case, the flight wouldn't qualify for cost sharing.
Some examples of a passenger not from a public advertisement include:
- a work colleague or a friend
- a person you've met in public, ensuring it doesn't lead to advertising the flight more widely
- an acquaintance of a friend.