UAE Aviation Legislation and the GCAA Regulatory Framework
The legal stack
UAE civil aviation is built on the Civil Aviation Law (Federal Law No. 20 of 1991, as amended), which creates the GCAA and gives it power to regulate, license and enforce. Below the law sit the Civil Aviation Regulations (CARs) - the technical rulebooks covering flight crew licensing, medical certification, air operations, airworthiness and aerodrome/ANS licensing. Below them sit the operational publications: the AIP UAE (permanent information in GEN, ENR and AD sections), NOTAM (temporary changes), AIC and AIP SUP. Where the UAE differs from an ICAO Standard, the difference is filed and published in AIP GEN 1.7 under Article 38 of the Chicago Convention.
Who does what
- GCAA: the regulator - licenses personnel, registers aircraft, issues certificates of airworthiness and aerodrome licences, and can suspend or revoke.
- Airport operators (Dubai Airports, Abu Dhabi Airports and others): run aerodromes, not the rulebook.
- Air navigation service providers: provide ATC and publish AIP/NOTAM on behalf of the State.
- Accident investigation: carried out through the GCAA's dedicated investigation function, separate from regulatory enforcement, following ICAO Annex 13.
How to answer "which document wins"
Conflicts resolve by authority, not by date. A regulation (CAR) beats an information publication; among information publications a NOTAM overrides the AIP for the period and subject it covers, and the AIP resumes when the NOTAM expires.
Worked example
Your AIP AD chart shows taxiway B open. A NOTAM says B is closed for three weeks. Your operator's manual repeats the chart. Which do you follow on the day? The NOTAM - it is the current notification of the State and overrides the chart for its period, even though the chart is also State information and the manual may be newer. If instead a CAR prohibited single-engine night departures and the AIP was silent, the CAR governs.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating ICAO Annexes as directly binding on the pilot. They bind the State, which implements them through CARs and the AIP.
- Naming the airport operator as the licensing authority, or the GCAA as the air navigation service provider.
- Choosing the "most recent" document instead of the one with higher legal authority.
- Forgetting AIP GEN 1.7 - the exam likes asking where UAE differences from ICAO are published.