The Thirty-Fifth Amendment replaces Part 187 in full. Fees for pilots, cabin crew, AMEs and operators increase on average, while aircraft registration and some other fees decrease.
A new South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) fee schedule applies from 1 October 2026. The Thirty-Fifth Amendment of the Civil Aviation Regulations, 2026, was published as Government Notice 7861 in Government Gazette 55257 on 28 August 2026. It replaces Part 187 (Fees and Charges) and comes into operation on 1 October under regulation 3. The Gazette subtitles it "Implementation of Activity-Based Costing Model". The Minister of Transport signed it on 12 August.
The previous schedule, the Thirty-Fourth Amendment, took effect on 1 April 2026. The tables below show selected fees as examples, with the previous and new amounts. Averages are simple means of the fees compared in each group, named in the text, and do not represent every fee in Part 187. The tables cover only fees payable to the SACAA and exclude medical examination fees charged by examiners, insurance, training and aircraft hire. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. The full schedules are on the SACAA website.
Pilots
The SACAA's pilot licensing schedule lists the PPL, CPL and ATPL fees as applying to aeroplane and helicopter licences alike, so the figures are the same for fixed-wing and rotary-wing pilots.
| Fee | Basis | Previous | New | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PPL currency | Biennial | R1,291 | R1,463 | +13% |
| CPL currency | Annual | R700 | R918 | +31% |
| ATPL currency | Annual | R810 | R1,042 | +29% |
| PPL issue or re-issue | One-off | R908 | R1,082 | +19% |
| CPL issue or re-issue | One-off | R974 | R1,355 | +39% |
| Class, type, night or instrument rating | One-off | R471 | R651 | +38% |
| Online PPL theory examination | Per subject | R159 | R427 | +169% |
| Online CPL theory examination | Per subject | R159 | R796 | +401% |
| Instructor rating renewal | Per renewal | R1,521 | R1,521 | Unchanged |
Across the four pilot currency fees (student, private, commercial and airline transport), the average change is +20%, from +8% to +31%. Across the four licence issue fees, it is +30%, from +19% to +41%. The schedule lists rating fees for issue, not renewal.
Medical certificates. Part 187 does not include the fee an examiner charges for a medical examination. Examiners set that fee, and the Gazette does not say whether it changes. The schedule sets the fee examiners pay the SACAA for designation and renewal: R4,284 for a regular medical examiner (R744 previously, +476%) and R5,728 for a senior medical examiner (R1,488 previously, +285%). The SACAA's hourly fees for extending a medical certificate and for medical validation are unchanged at R1,084.
Cabin crew and air traffic services
| Fee | Basis | Previous | New | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabin crew licence issue or re-issue | One-off | R591 | R947 | +60% |
| Cabin crew annual currency and revalidation of competency | Annual | R471 | R646 | +37% |
| Cabin crew safety instructor designation | Per designation | R842 | R1,224 | +45% |
| Air traffic service licence currency | Per renewal | R591 | R846 | +43% |
Across five cabin crew fees (issue, annual currency, online examination, examiner designation and safety instructor designation), the average change is +38%, from +11% to +60%. Across three air traffic service licence fees (issue, currency and rating addition), it is about +40%, from +38% to +43%.
Aircraft maintenance engineers
| Fee | Basis | Previous | New | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AME licence issue or re-issue | One-off | R1,062 | R1,413 | +33% |
| AME licence renewal | Per renewal | R1,084 | R1,174 | +8% |
| Approved person certificate renewal | Biennial | R700 | R1,069 | +53% |
| Grade I or II instructor rating renewal | Per renewal | R1,050 | R1,206 | +15% |
Across ten AME fees (licence validation, issue, renewal, amendment and duplicate, approved person certificate issue and renewal, instructor rating issue and renewal, and examination re-marking), the average change is +26%, from +8% to +53%.
Remote pilots and drone operators
| Fee | Previous | New | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remote pilot certificate (RPC), issue or re-issue | R886 | R1,068 | +21% |
| RPC revalidation | R645 | R1,033 | +60% |
| Registration of an unmanned aircraft | R1,072 | R922 | -14% |
| UAS operating certificate (commercial), initial issue | R5,667 | R8,089 | +43% |
| UAS operating certificate, renewal or annual currency | R3,895 | R6,046 | +55% |
| UAS operations manual approval, issue | R5,723 | R4,177 | -27% |
The four remote pilot fees (issue, revalidation, duplicate and instructor rating) change by +52% on average, from +21% to +86%. The three registration fees (registration, change of ownership and cancellation) fall by 11% on average. The three UAS operating certificate fees (initial issue, renewal and each additional aircraft) rise by 47% on average.
Operators and organisations
| Fee | Previous | New | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part 121 renewal or annual currency, above 130,000 kg | R37,813 | R56,110 | +48% |
| Part 127 operating certificate, under 1,500 kg | R13,403 | R26,372 | +97% |
| ATO, each aircraft of 2,700 kg or less placed on specification | R984 | R2,453 | +149% |
| Full flight simulator, annual currency | R5,361 | R22,391 | +318% |
| Air traffic service unit approval, issue | R6,653 | R25,691 | +286% |
| Category 10 national aerodrome, fire services, security and dangerous goods | R419,583 | R408,187 | -3% |
Across nine air operator fees for Parts 93, 96, 121, 127 and 135, initial issue changes by about +60% on average, from +30% to +97%. Renewal or annual currency for the same certificates changes by +72% on average, from +48% to +140%. The three ATO per-aircraft fees (by weight band) change by +102% on average, from +77% to +149%. Removing an aircraft from a certificate costs between R891 and R906, from between R252 and R274.
Fees that decrease or stay the same
| Fee | Previous | New | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft registration | R1,062 | R922 | -13% |
| Transfer or change of ownership | R984 | R870 | -12% |
| Amendment of a type approval, non-type certificated aircraft | R2,341 | R1,983 | -15% |
| General hourly rate where no specific fee is set | R1,084 | R1,084 | Unchanged |
| ATO certificate, issue and renewal | R6,248 | R6,248 | Unchanged |
| Certificate of airworthiness, aircraft up to 1,800 kg, renewal | R1,433 | R1,433 | Unchanged |
The eight decreases compared (aircraft registration and ownership transfer, unmanned aircraft registration, non-type certificated type approval amendment, amateur-built aircraft number, RVSM certificate, and the two Category 10 aerodrome fees) average -10%, from -3% to -15%.
Examples of annual fees
These calculations apply the new fees to hypothetical cases and assume each fee is paid once in the year. The Gazette describes only some fees as annual or biennial, and for the others the renewal interval is set elsewhere in the regulations.
| Example | Previous | New | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| PPL holder, currency per year (half of R1,291 and R1,463) | R645.50 | R731.50 | R86 |
| CPL pilot, annual currency | R700 | R918 | R218 |
| CPL pilot who also renews an instructor rating | R2,221 | R2,439 | R218 |
| ATPL pilot, annual currency | R810 | R1,042 | R232 |
| Cabin crew member, annual currency | R471 | R646 | R175 |
| AME renewing a licence, an approved person certificate and an instructor rating in the same year | R2,834 | R3,449 | R615 |
| Remote pilot, revalidation | R645 | R1,033 | R388 |
The SACAA's stated basis
The SACAA told parliamentary portfolio committees in April 2025 that user fees are determined on the basis of the time and competency required to process applications, and that it had adopted activity-based costing. Its 2023/24 annual report says the organisation looked at diversifying its revenue streams, which resulted in the adoption of an activity-based costing model, and that it consulted industry on the new charges, to be rolled out over a few years. The Gazette text contains the fee schedule and the commencement date. The costing behind individual fees is not part of it.
The SACAA publishes the schedules on its Fees, Charges and Levies page.
