It's not only large jets that are flying high. Individuals and organizations working in the burgeoning recreational aviation sector are also valuable members of the aviation community.

Founded at the dawn of aviation history in 1905, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is today a non-governmental and non-profit making international organization with some 100 member countries. Its aim is to further aeronautical and astronautical activities worldwide.

As well as providing a home for a broad congregation of aviation related sports clubs, organizations and individuals, an important and growing part of FAI's membership activity is recreational aviation such as clubs focusing on home-built aircraft.

Working with the FAI, the .aero team wants to reach out to enthusiasts and invite them to become part of the growing Internet aviation community. However, the current .aero policy for recreational aviation restricts this and makes this the only registrant group not allowed to register second level domain names, due to lack of defined eligibility criteria.

Most individuals and organizations, who would classify themselves under "recreational aviation" and wish to register second level domain names have managed to do so but in a different registrant group, as they would typically meet defined eligibility criteria or credentials for the air sports or pilots groups. This anomaly has caused confusion to potential registrants.

Clear sky clear thinking

It is important to eliminate confusion and possible discrimination. Following discussion between FAI and SITA, the  Dot Aero Council was asked to review this situation and give its recommendation regarding the merger of the two registrant groups "Air sports" and "Recreational aviation" into one registrant group, to be called "Air sports and recreational aviation".

Eligibility criteria for the new combined registrant group will be similar to those previously applied to "Air sports":

• air sports and recreational aviation clubs and their members
• federations, national associations, organizers of competitions linked to air sports and recreational aviation
• suppliers of air sports and recreational aviation equipment.

FAI Secretary General Max Bishop warmly welcomed the new arrangements, saying "Anyone who flies for pleasure, not for work, can now easily become part of the .aero community and advertise this in their electronic address."

The necessary credentials for this new registrant group will be : affiliation to FAI Member Organization; FAI Calendar Championship ID Number or other.

Full details of eligibility and credentials can be found on the .aero web site