Night rating under EASA: what you need to know before your first night flight
From the five solo night circuits you need to how civil twilight is calculated, here is a complete guide to earning and maintaining your EASA night rating.
Flying at night is unlike anything you experience during daytime training. The horizon disappears, depth perception changes, and the world narrows to a collection of lights and instruments. Getting your night rating — and staying current after you have it — requires understanding a handful of rules that catch a surprising number of pilots out.
What is the EASA night rating?
The night rating is an add-on to your PPL(A) or LAPL(A). It is not a separate licence but an endorsement that allows you to fly as pilot-in-command at night. The relevant regulation is Annex I (Part-FCL) to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011, specifically FCL.810.
To qualify you must:
- Hold a PPL(A) or LAPL(A)
- Have logged at least 100 hours flight time as PIC on aeroplanes
- Complete at least 5 hours night flight time, of which at least 3 hours must be dual instruction (including at least 1 hour of cross-country navigation) and at least 5 solo take-offs and 5 full-stop night landings
- Pass a skills test with an FE
The 100-hour PIC requirement is the one that most LAPL holders hit unexpectedly. It is not 100 hours total time — it is 100 hours specifically as pilot-in-command.
Civil twilight: where night actually begins
One of the most misunderstood aspects of night flying is when night begins. Under EASA, night is defined as the period between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight.
Civil twilight ends when the centre of the sun is 6° below the horizon — typically about 30 minutes after sunset, though it varies significantly with latitude and time of year. At 55°N in December, civil twilight can end less than 20 minutes after sunset. At the same latitude in June, it never fully ends.
This matters because:
- Your take-off counts as a night take-off if it happens after evening civil twilight.
- Night currency (see below) only accrues from operations during this defined period.
- Logging night time in your logbook should reflect actual civil twilight windows, not just "after 8pm".
Manual calculation of civil twilight is tedious. A good logbook application will calculate it automatically from your departure aerodrome coordinates and departure time, using an accurate astronomical algorithm.
Night currency under FCL.060
Holding a night rating is not the same as being current to carry passengers at night. FCL.060 requires that in the preceding 90 days you have completed at least:
- 1 take-off as pilot flying at night
- 1 landing as pilot flying at night
This is separate from, and in addition to, the daytime passenger currency requirement (3 take-offs and 3 landings in 90 days). Both must be met before you can carry passengers at night.
The 90-day window is measured in calendar days. If your last night landing was on 1 January, you remain current through 31 March regardless of how many total flying hours you logged in between.
Common logging mistakes to avoid
Logging approach darkness as night time. If you departed at 17:30 and landed at 19:45 and civil twilight ended at 19:20, only 25 minutes of that flight was night time. The whole flight was not.
Conflating VFR night with IFR night. An instrument rating allows you to conduct IFR operations at night, but night IMC training and currency are separate from VFR night currency. Both matter independently.
Forgetting the 5 solo night landings. Some pilots receive their night training, complete the skills test, and never log the initial 5 solo night circuits in a way that makes them easy to retrieve later. When a CFI asks to verify eligibility, you need to be able to produce them.
The LAPL night restriction
LAPL(A) holders face an additional constraint: the LAPL does not automatically authorise flight as PIC at night. You must hold the night rating endorsement (FCL.810) on your LAPL. Without it, LAPL privileges are limited to VFR day operations only.
Keeping good records
Night currency expires silently. Unlike a medical or a type rating, there is no renewal event or certificate — just a 90-day window that rolls forward with each qualifying flight.
A logbook that automatically tracks whether you are within the 90-day window, calculates civil twilight from your aerodrome and departure time, and flags when currency is about to expire removes the guesswork entirely. That is exactly what Pilot Logbook does: every flight you log is analysed against your current licence and currency windows, and the currency dashboard shows you exactly how many days remain.