TTMRA
Converting your Australian Pilots Licence to New Zealand (or vice versa) with the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Act
So you’re a pilot in either Australia or New Zealand and you’re thinking about jumping across the ditch to see what life is like on the other side? Lucky for you, Australia’s CASA and NZ’s CAA are close cousins who have agreed to recognising each others professional flight crew and aircraft maintenance engineer licences - this is called the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Act (TTMRA). Its a relatively straight forward process, the nitty gritty and all the required forms can be found on CAA and CASA’s respective web pages. I will however give a brief overview on the breakdown of a CPLH conversion to save you the headache that comes with reading formal documents.
Generally it is going to be easier to convert from NZ to Aus than the other way around but it is very do able either way. For either country, you can fly on your home country medical for the first 12 months immediately following the licence conversion approval. Simply meaning you can’t get your Trans Tasman licence now and then head over in a years time, flying on your initial medical - you will need to get a Class 1 for the country you will be flying. But if like me, you get straight into it, no sweat about passing another medical and forking out even more cash! (For the first year anyway).
To have your licence recognised, you need to meet the minimum requirements for the other countries licence. An Australian CPLH requires,
Minimum of 105 hours flight time
10 hours PIC cross country
New Zealand requires,
Minimum of 150 hours flight time
10 hours of mountain training time
10 hours sling time, 7 of which must be dual
20 hours cross country
This is not a full break down of the training requirements of each country, more so the notable and important differences for the conversion.
Australia to New Zealand Conversion
You’re going to want a little bit of real life experience before heading over to NZ, otherwise this is going to be a costly process. Provided you have upwards of 150 hours and have logged a few extra ferry hours, you’ll be looking at the sling and mountain experience as a small hurdle to get the conversion. There is also a stack of paper work you’ll want to have organised before committing to any additional training, including a Federal Police Check and a driving record/infringement check.
Ideally at some point in your career this far you may have completed a sling rating in Australia, be aware this may not be enough to satisfy CAA, as they want to see you have logged 7 hours with an instructor (plus a minimum of another 3). But if you haven’t managed this, there are plenty of schools in NZ to learn this skill set, the schools I looked into were willing to train sling in an R22 or Cabri G2 at around $750-$775NZD/hr.
The mountain training element will generally need to be completed in New Zealand to satisfy CAA’s training curriculum. Its all quite straight forward but Australia isn’t able to provide the landscapes to compare to that of the ranges in NZ. Note that if you do have extensive mountain experience already, for example, from flying overseas, I have heard of this requirement being waved, although it is not something I can speak to personally.
One small hiccup worth noting relates to your aircraft type ratings, CAA will want to see a minimum of 5 hours on type to apply the type rating to your New Zealand licence. The application form does list the ‘aircraft type endorsed on CASA licence’ as sufficient evidence but this truly only applies to the old style of licence which would have type ratings listed in ink. Part 61 licences use an instructors handwritten endorsement to list types and this is not seen as sufficient evidence by CAA.
Once all your required hours are ironed out, it’s into the paper work. CAA were great to work with in my experience, quick to respond to any queries about the conversion and once paper work was submitted, my new licence was approved and mailed within a few days.
A check list of everything you’ll need looks a little like
AFP record check
Traffic infringement record
CASA Form 452 - licence release form
Fit and Proper Person Questionnaire
Certified copy of passport
Certified copy of CASA Licence
Certified copy of CASA Medical
English language proficiency check (this should be on your licence)
Flight experience summary including logbook evidence
Proof of payment for the licence which you are applying
You must also provide a physical address in New Zealand for service.
For full details and application forms head to CAA’s website.
New Zealand to Australia Conversion
If you initially have a kiwi licence, there is no extra training required. However, if you intend to use an operational rating (instument, instructor etc.) in Aus, you will need to complete an Australian proficiency check (HFR) before the rating will be converted over.
Outside of that it is all paper work, you’ll need,
To complete CAA’s Application for Licence Verification, to allow CAA to send a licence report to CASA
Copy of NZ Flight Crew Licence
Copy of current NZ Class 1 Medical
Logbook evidence for all privileges you are applying
Proof of English Language Proficiency
Commonwealth of Australia Statutory Declaration form
Provide a passport style photo to CASA along with Form 61-9PIC
For full details and application forms head to CASA’s website
The transition of working in the other country is generally super easy too, there is no visa requirements and you can own and drive a car without having to get an international permit. I have found the people to be very similar, friendly, outdoorsy and happy to help out, on both sides of the Tasman.
Feel free to get in touch, if you have any questions or anything to add!