General (ICAO)

ICAO Annex 2 §4.7 and Annex 2 Appendix 3 stipulate that VFR night flights may only be conducted under conditions established by the appropriate authority. "Night" is defined in Annex 2 §1 as the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight (sun 6° below the horizon).

Europe (EASA / EU)

Legal basis for Night VFR:

SERA.5005(c) sets the weather minima for VFR night flights,
Regulation (EU) 1178/2011 FCL.810 prescribes the Night Rating,
Regulation (EU) 965/2012 Part-NCO.IDE.A.115/120 prescribes equipment.

Night Rating — FCL.810:

Required to exercise the privileges of a PPL(A)/LAPL(A) at night.
Requirements: theoretical instruction + at least 5 hours of night flying with an instructor, including:
- at least 3 hours of dual instruction (with at least 1 hour of cross-country navigation of at least 50 km),
- 5 solo full-stop take-offs and 5 solo full-stop landings at night.
Recorded as an endorsement in the licence.

Night VFR weather minima (SERA.5005(c)):

Visibility ≥ 5 km,
Cloud ceiling ≥ 1 500 ft AGL,
Distance from cloud horizontally at least 1 500 m, vertically at least 1 000 ft,
Special conditions per airspace class.

Minimum altitude SERA.5005(f) for Night VFR: at least 1 000 ft above all obstacles within 8 km of the flight path, except for take-off/landing.

Equipment Part-NCO.IDE.A.115/120 for Night VFR:

Standard VFR equipment plus:
Illumination of all pilot instruments,
Portable electric flashlight,
Landing light,
Anti-collision light (strobe or red flashing),
Position (navigation) lights,
A second independent electrical power source for essential loads.

Germany (national)

EU law applies. Additional restrictions:

§31a LuftVO — Night VFR in Germany is permitted only on published routes or in controlled airspace (classes C, D, E), not freely in class G — see AIP VFR ENR 1.2.
At many VFR aerodromes night operations are not authorised; take-off/landing requires PPR (Prior Permission Required).
A flight plan must be filed for every Night VFR flight.