Regulation on Third Country Operators

General

In accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 (the Basic Regulation), EASA is given the mandate to develop Implementing Rules applicable to third country operators (TCO) operating into, within or out of the EU*. The proposed rules published in a document known as a Comment Response Document (CRD), are designed to establish a single European system for the safety authorisation of these operators replacing the various national systems existing today in the framework of agreements between EU Member States and third countries. Once the proposed rules are adopted, TCOs engaged in commercial air transport (CAT) operations must demonstrate to EASA compliance with international (ICAO) standards.

* Although the Basic Regulation mandates the Agency to develop implementing rules for all commercial operations (e.g. aerial work), non-commercial operations with complex motor-powered aircraft as well as aircraft and crew not holding an ICAO certificate of airworthiness or licence, it has been decided that a phased-in approach would be appropriate at this stage, and therefore the scope of the proposed rules is limited to commercial air transport only.

Rule shaping process

EASA is presently developing rules for the authorisation of TCOs operating into, within or out of the EU. On 26 January 2012, EASA published the Comment Response Document (CRD) 2011-05 on Implementing Rules on TCOs engaged in commercial air transport (CAT) operations in Europe.

EASA issued a first proposal in the form of a Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) in April 2011 (NPA 2011-05) and received 234 comments during the 3 month consultation phase.

CRD 2011-05 contains an updated set of TCO rules, which reflects the comments received and a summary of the main concerns raised by the stakeholders. This CRD is available for further comments by all interested stakeholders until 26 March 2012.

The final Opinion is expected to be published in summer - autumn of 2012. Following publication of the Opinion, responsibility for completing the decision-making process prior to the Regulation’s publication in the Official Journal of the European Union passes onto the European Commission. The Opinion’s progress can be followed via the European Commission’s comitology website . It is advisable to search by year and for the committee dealing with these: Committee for the application of common safety rules in the field of civil aviation. As several Opinions may be negotiated in one such committee meeting it is difficult to search by rule or title.

Once the committee has adopted the draft regulation, it is passed onto the European Parliament and Council for scrutiny. Further information and links to the documents under scrutiny can be found via the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN).

The Agency is responsible for finalising the associated Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Guidance Material (GM). As these need to take into account any changes made to the Cover Regulation and Implementing Rules by the EASA Committee, European Parliament and Council, the Decision is published on the Agency website shortly after the date when the corresponding regulation has been published in the Official Journal.

TCO authorisation

The TCO authorisation issued by EASA will harmonise and replace the existing national schemes in Europe for the technical evaluation of TCOs. The TCO authorisation issued centrally by EASA will become the only mandatory technical pre-requisite for TCOs to exercise entry permits (traffic rights) that are currently issued by individual EASA Member States.

Who needs a TCO authorisation?

Any CAT operator not having its principal place of business in one of the territories listed below will require a TCO authorisation in order to operate into these territories:

the 27 Member States of the EU
the four additional EASA Member States - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland
the following territories in which the Basic Regulation applies - Gibraltar, Aland Islands, Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Mayotte.

The authorisation process

The proposed rules harmonise and streamline the authorisation process for TCOs by proposing a single, confidence-based assessment process, proportionate to the operations and simple to implement. The authorisation process will be supported by a web-based application, which includes an online questionnaire.

Entry into force

EASA will commence this new task as soon as the rules enter into force. A transition phase will ensure the continuation of air services by TCOs that already operate to the EU. After a successful assessment EASA will issue an authorisation before the end of the transition phase. In order to benefit from this transition phase, operators will have to register within 6 months after entry into force of the rules.

Further information is also available here.