Can a private pilot share costs with passengers? The FAA, EASA and UK rules

A private pilot may not be paid to fly, but in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom the pilot may share some of the cost of a flight with the passengers on board. Which costs, how many people, and what the pilot must pay himself differ between the three rule sets. This guide sets out the FAA rule (14 CFR 61.113(c) and Advisory Circular 61-142), the EASA rule for cost-shared flights and the UK rules that took effect on 1 October 2025, quoted from the regulators' own pages, read on 28 October 2026, and works out what it means for one flight hour in an owned aircraft and in a club aircraft.

Short answer: Yes, within limits. Under FAA rules a private pilot may share only fuel, oil, airport expenditures and rental fees, must pay at least his pro rata share, and needs his own reason to fly to the destination. Under EASA rules the direct costs of the flight (fuel, airfield charges, rental fee) are shared by all occupants, pilot included, with at most six on board. In the UK, since 1 October 2025, the pilot pays at least an equal share and keeps a passenger declaration for each passenger. Maintenance, insurance and club dues cannot be shared under the FAA or UK rules. Under the FAA rule, for an owner flying a 1980 Cessna 172 with three passengers, the passengers can pay at most $43.50 of a $298 hour, landing fees aside; a club member renting at $175 an hour can share $131.25 of it.

May the passengers pay a share of …?

Cost	FAA (US)	EASA (EU)	CAA (UK)
Fuel	Yes	Yes	Yes
Oil	Yes	Not named	Not named
Landing and airport fees	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rental fee for the aircraft	Yes	Yes	Yes
Maintenance	No	No	No
Insurance	No	Not named	No
Depreciation	No	Not named	Not named
Club membership fees	No	Not named	No

The FAA rule: a pro rata share of four costs

The rule is one sentence in 14 CFR 61.113(c): "A private pilot may not pay less than the pro rata share of the operating expenses of a flight with passengers, provided the expenses involve only fuel, oil, airport expenditures, or rental fees."

The FAA explains it in Advisory Circular 61-142 of 25 February 2020. Taking more than that share is a breach: "A pilot exercising private pilot privileges who accepts any reimbursement that exceeds the pilot’s pro rata share of the operating expenses of a flight would be paying less than the pilot’s pro rata share". The money can only come from the people in the aircraft: "§ 61.113(c) permits reimbursement of expenses only from the passengers on the flight." And the list of costs is closed: "Any expenses not specified in § 61.113(c) must be paid by the pilot. Examples of these include, but are not limited to, aircraft maintenance, aircraft insurance, aircraft depreciation, and navigation charts." The circular's own example is oxygen: "the cost of oxygen cannot be shared with passengers because it is not specifically listed in § 61.113(c)."

What that means for one hour: owner or club member

The four costs the FAA allows are a small part of what an owned aircraft costs and nearly all of what a rented one costs, because a rental rate already contains the owner's fixed costs.

Who pays for one hour with four on board (FAA)

Owner: $298 hour

Shareable: fuel and oil, $58 — $14.50 each

3 passengers together, at most

$43.50

The pilot, at least

$254.50

Club member: $175 rented hour

Shareable: the whole rental fee — $43.75 each

3 passengers together, at most

$131.25

The pilot, at least

$43.75

Take a 1980 Cessna 172N/P worth $100,000 that flies 100 hours a year. Our aircraft ownership cost calculator puts its hour at $298 at US prices, with hangar, insurance, annual inspection, engine reserve and depreciation counted in. Fuel is $56 of that hour and oil $2. With four on board and equal shares, each pays $14.50 of the fuel and oil; the three passengers together pay at most $43.50, and the owner pays the other $254.50. Landing fees, which the rule also allows, would come on top and be split the same way. Fuel per hour for other types is in how much fuel a Cessna 172 burns.

A member of TSS Flying Club renting its Cessna 172S at the published wet rate of $175 per tach hour pays a rental fee, and that may be shared. With four on board each pays $43.75, so the passengers can cover $131.25 of the hour. The club's $180 monthly dues are not a rental fee and stay with the member. How club rates compare with owning is worked out in rent, share or own a plane, and what a club rents for in how much does it cost to rent a plane.

Common purpose and holding out

Sharing the cost is allowed; flying people somewhere for the money is not, and the FAA tells the two apart by whose trip it is. The pilot must "have his or her own reason, other than the receipt of compensation for the flight, for traveling to the destination." The circular sums the test up as "but for the receipt of compensation, the pilot would not have taken that flight."

Its examples make the line concrete. A friend asks a pilot to fly him to another city to pick up a car and offers to share the cost; the pilot agrees because he is free that day and would enjoy the flight. "As the passenger chose the destination and the private pilot does not have a purpose of his own to be in the other city at that time, this is an example of a situation where no common purpose exists." A pilot who has to fly six fellow running-club members to a race in two trips of a four-seater shares a common purpose only on the first trip: "The second trip fails the common purpose test because the pilot has already achieved his purpose for the flight".

The second limit is advertising. Pilots sharing expenses "must not “hold out” to the public or a segment of the public as being willing to furnish transportation to any person who wants it." In the circular "the FAA would consider a posting of a flight on a website accessible to the general public, or a segment of the general public, to be holding out", and the same goes for flight-sharing apps, while "The FAA would not consider an email among close friends to be holding out."

EASA: all occupants share the direct cost, at most six on board

In the European Union and the other EASA states, cost-shared flights by private individuals fall under a derogation in the Air OPS Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, which lets them fly under the non-commercial Part-NCO rules. EASA's leaflet states the two conditions: "the direct costs of the flight are shared by all occupants of the aircraft, pilot included." And "the number of persons on board of a cost-shared flight is limited to maximum six occupants (pilot included). There is no element of profit."

EASA's guidance material defines what may be shared: "‘Direct cost’ means the cost directly incurred in relation to a flight, e.g. fuel, airfield charges, rental fee for an aircraft. There is no element of profit." The running costs of the aircraft are a different category: "‘Annual cost’ means the cost of keeping, maintaining and operating the aircraft over a period of one calendar year. There is no element of profit." The leaflet and guidance name no minimum share for the pilot beyond being one of the occupants who share, and say nothing about a common purpose; national rules in an EASA state can add conditions, so check your own authority's page. The derogation covers non-complex aircraft only, the kind of light aircraft clubs and private owners fly. EASA's leaflet also notes that "A number of European web-based cost-sharing platforms are making use of internet technology to promote cost-shared flights to a wider audience."

UK: an equal share and a passenger declaration since 1 October 2025

The UK kept the EASA rule when it left the EU and changed it from 1 October 2025. The CAA's page states the limit on numbers — "No more than six persons (including the pilot) are permitted on a cost sharing flight." — and the new minimum for the pilot: "The contribution towards the direct costs of the flight by the pilot must not be less than the total direct cost divided equally by the number of people on board." Annual costs stay out: "These are the cost of keeping, maintaining, insuring and operating the aircraft over a period of one calendar year (including items like club membership fees for renters)."

Two new duties came with it. "A Passenger Declaration Form must be kept for each passenger undertaking a cost sharing flight", completed before the flight and "retained by the pilot/operator for 6 months from the date of the flight"; the CAA publishes a template. Advertising is allowed, by the pilot who will fly, but not "as an offering of a flight to any destination and time at the determination of a passenger", and since 1 October 2025 an advertisement must give the start and end of the flight, the date, a statement that it is a private arrangement not necessarily as safe as commercial air transport, the pilot's licence and medical, total hours, and hours on the type in the previous three months. And if the flight is cancelled: "If the flight does not take place, then no remuneration (money or exchange of gifts) should be exchanged between the pilot and passengers."

The conditions on a cost-shared flight

	FAA (US)	EASA (EU)	CAA (UK)
How many may share	61.113(c) names no number	Up to six occupants, pilot included	Up to six, pilot included
The pilot’s share	At least the pro rata share	Shared by all occupants, pilot included	At least an equal share (since 1 October 2025)
Whose trip it is	The pilot needs an own reason to go there (common purpose)	Not in these sources	Not offered to a destination and time the passenger chooses
Advertising	No holding out to the public: a public website or app counts	Not restricted in these sources; the leaflet notes online cost-sharing platforms	Allowed, by the pilot, with set contents (since 1 October 2025)
Paperwork	None in 61.113(c)	Not in these sources	A passenger declaration per passenger, kept 6 months

What this means for clubs and partnerships

The rules are about passengers. How the owners of a shared aircraft divide its costs between themselves is a matter for their own agreement (see the aircraft partnership agreement), and what a club may charge its members is set by the club and, in the US, by the FAA's flying-club rules (FAA flying club rules).

For a club member the number that can be split with passengers is the rental fee of that flight, and the clearest record of it is the club's own bill for the flight. In Pilot-Next each pilot settles their own flight with the meter readings, and it becomes an invoice on their account at the club's hourly rate; the monthly dues are billed separately as a membership fee. The rental fee of a flight is then on that flight's own invoice, separate from the dues: the amount the rules above let a pilot divide.

This guide summarises the regulators' published text and is not legal advice; where a flight is close to the line, the FAA's circular, your national authority or an aviation lawyer decides.