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General aviation

General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other purposes. However, for statistical purposes, ICAO uses a definition of general aviation which includes aerial work. General aviation thus represents the "private transport" and recreational components of aviation. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines civil aviation aircraft operations in three categories: General Aviation (GA), Aerial Work (AW) and Commercial Air Transport (CAT). Aerial work operations are separated from general aviation by ICAO by this definition. Aerial work is when an aircraft is used for specialized services such as agriculture, construction, photography, surveying, observation and patrol, search and rescue, and aerial advertisement. However, for statistical purposes ICAO includes aerial work within general aviation, and has proposed officially extending the definition of general aviation to include aerial work, to reflect common usage. The proposed ICAO classification includes instructional flying as part of general aviation (non-aerial-work). The International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA) refers to the category as general aviation/aerial work (GA/AW) to avoid ambiguity. Their definition of general aviation includes: Corporate aviation: company own-use flight operations Fractional ownership operations: aircraft operated by a specialized company on behalf of two or more co-owners Business aviation (or travel): self-flown for business purposes Personal/private travel: travel for personal reasons/personal transport Air tourism: self-flown incoming/outgoing tourism Recreational flying: powered/powerless leisure flying activities Air sports: aerobatics, air races, competitions, rallies, etc. General aviation thus includes both commercial and non-commercial activities.

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