EASA FTL in Plain English

An acclimatised crew reporting between 06:00 and 13:29 can fly up to 13 hours of Flight Duty Period on 1 or 2 sectors. Earlier or later reports get less, down to 11 hours, and each sector from the 3rd takes off 30 minutes, never below 9 hours (ORO.FTL.205).

The operator may plan an FDP up to 1 hour longer, no more than twice in any 7 days, with more rest before and after and fewer sectors when it touches the night (ORO.FTL.205(d)).

No more than 60 duty hours in any 7 days, 110 in 14 days and 190 in 28 days, spread as evenly as practicable (ORO.FTL.210(a)).

No more than 100 hours flight time in any 28 days, 900 hours in a calendar year and 1,000 hours in any 12 calendar months (ORO.FTL.210(b)).

At home base, rest is at least as long as the duty before it or 12 hours, whichever is more. Away from base it is at least the duty before it or 10 hours, with an 8-hour sleep opportunity (ORO.FTL.235).

At least 36 hours off including 2 local nights, and no more than 168 hours between the end of one and the start of the next (ORO.FTL.235(d)).

Commercial air transport with aeroplanes in the EU (Reg. 965/2012 Annex III, Subpart FTL). Air taxi, single-pilot and emergency medical aeroplane operations stay under the older Subpart Q and national rules (Reg. 83/2014 Art. 8), so many business jet operators fly a national scheme instead.

The Window of Circadian Low: 02:00 to 05:59 in the time zone your body is acclimatised to. Duties that touch it get shorter limits.

You count as acclimatised to a 2-hour-wide band around local time where you depart. Cross more time zones and Table 1 in ORO.FTL.105 decides, from the time difference and the time since you reported.

Each operator has a flight time specification scheme approved by its authority (ORO.FTL.125), built on EASA's certification specifications CS-FTL.1. It can differ within the rules, so always check your Operations Manual.

CallSign checks your logged duties against the EASA preset or your own figures and warns before a limit. It is a guide for your own planning, not a legal limit.

General information checked October 2026 against the regulations above. Rules change; the official text and your operator's approved scheme always govern.