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Aviation glossary

Civil aviation authority

Also: CAA, aviation regulator, national aviation authority

Registration and rules

Public body that regulates and oversees a country's civil aviation: it registers aircraft, issues licences and certifies airlines and airports.

What it is

States party to the Chicago Convention undertake to apply ICAO standards, notifying any differences, and the civil aviation authority is the body that puts them into practice. It keeps the aircraft register, licenses pilots, controllers and engineers, grants airlines their air operator certificate and ensures that airports and maintenance organisations comply with the rules. Examples include the UK Civil Aviation Authority, Transport Canada, Australia's CASA, Spain's AESA and Colombia's Aerocivil.

Arrangements vary widely. In some countries the same body regulates aviation and provides air traffic control, as the FAA does in the United States; in others the two roles are separate, as in the United Kingdom, where NATS handles air navigation. EU member states also share a common agency, EASA, which takes on design certification.

Related terms

FAAUnited States government agency that regulates the country's civil aviation, certifies aircraft and provides air traffic control services. EASAEuropean Union agency responsible for civil aviation safety, which certifies aircraft, engines and components and harmonises rules across Europe. Aircraft registerOfficial record kept by each state of the aircraft entered on it, listing their registration, type, serial number and owner. Certificate of airworthinessDocument issued by the state of registry to an individual aircraft, confirming that it conforms to its approved design and is in a condition for safe operation. ICAOSpecialised agency of the United Nations that sets the standards and recommended practices for international civil aviation.
Whole glossary

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Civil aviation authority. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/civil-aviation-authority

MLA

“Civil aviation authority.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/civil-aviation-authority. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Civil aviation authority.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/civil-aviation-authority.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Civil aviation authority. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/civil-aviation-authority (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_civil_aviation_authority,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Civil aviation authority}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/civil-aviation-authority},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/civil-aviation-authority}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/civil-aviation-authority |title=Civil aviation authority |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}

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