A Permit to Fly (PtF) is individual aircraft airworthiness certificate that may be issued by derogation to a Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA) or restricted CofA when the aircraft needs to fly but cannot be issued or hold a valid (R)CofA due to non-compliance with the applicable airworthiness requirements.
In this case, a PtF may be obtained, for various possible flight purposes, subject to associated Flight Conditions (FC), which require prior approval with defined conditions or restrictions to enable the non-compliant aircraft to be demonstrated capable of safe flight.
Eligible aircraft
Aircraft registered in the EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland that are covered by the Basic Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2018/1139) are eligible to obtain a PtF and prior approval of the associated FC.
Cases where the Agency is not involved
Under the applicable regulations, the Agency does not issue any Permit to Fly certificate.
The competence for issuing a PtF is assigned to the EASA Member State of Registry of the registered aircraft, or the authority designated by the Member State to prescribe identification marks for an unregistered aircraft, and to Organisations (Design, Production or CAMO / CAO) when appropriately approved to do so under a granted privilege.
The approval of the FC, based on which a PtF can be issued, depends on whether the non-compliance of the aircraft is related to the “Safety of the Design” or not.
When the approval of FC is NOT related to the safety of the design of the aircraft, the Agency is NOT involved, but only the competent authority of an EASA Member State or an Organisation with the granted “FC” privilege. Typical examples of such a case are (non-exhaustive list):
- production flight testing of new production aircraft for the purpose of conformity establishment;
- ferry flight of aircraft under production between production facilities;
- customer acceptance or delivery/export flight(s) of a new aircraft, the design of which is already approved, before registration and (R)CofA issuance.
Applicable regulations
Commission Regulation (EU) No 748/2012 contains the applicable provisions for the issuance of a PtF and the approval of the associated FC.
Relevant Part 21 / Part 21L requirements and AMC/GM of Annexes I and Ib, sections A and B, Subparts P - Permit to Fly - can also be found in Easy Access Rules (EAR) for Initial Airworthiness and Environmental Protection (Reg. (EU) No 748/2012).
Appropriately approved organisations (DOA and POA) may have the privileges to approve the FC and issue the PtF, under certain conditions.
Note: unlike DOA and POA, a CAMO/CAO organization cannot be granted any “FC” privilege; however, such an organization may issue Permits to Fly under a granted “PtF” privilege provided that before issuing a PtF, the CAMO/CAO attests conformity with valid FC duly approved under Part 21 as the privilege requires.
DOA and POA
DOA can apply for an extension of their privileges with an EASA Form 82 and POA can apply for an extension of their privileges to their Competent Authority. Please contact the relevant National Aviation Authority, or EASA for POA it has issued, for further details.
A DOA may be granted the privilege to approve FC related to the safety of the design and may additionally be granted the separate privilege to issue a PtF if it also approves the associated FC.
A POA may also be granted the privilege to approve FC, however only for FC that are not related to the safety of the design and when the organisation also issues the respective PtF under the same (combined “PtF & FC”) privilege.
Procedure when the Agency approves the Flight Conditions for a PtF
The Agency may approve FC that are RELATED to the safety of the design when no other (DOA) Organisation with the relevant “FC” privilege takes the responsibility for this approval.
In this case, the internal certification working Procedure PR.CAP.00125 is used and the applicant has to follow the following process to obtain approval of the FC and then the respective PtF:
- Send an application form to EASA in order to get an EASA approval of the FC proposed to support subsequent issue of a PtF: EASA Form 37
Important: The EASA Form 37 also includes, in its annex I, the Approval Form 18B which the Agency uses to approve the FC required for a PtF issuance.
In order to ensure a fast processing of your application for approval of FC, it is highly recommended to completely and correctly fill in both the EASA Form 37 and the Form 18B.
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Simultaneously or following EASA approval, send an application for a PtF to the competent authority of the EASA Member State together with the EASA Form 18B approved by the Agency, using the acceptable national application form as prescribed by that authority (on the basis of EASA Form 21 - see GM 21.A.707(b) ). Please contact the relevant National Aviation Authority for further details.
Note: alternatively, a PtF may also be issued based on EASA-approved FC by a CAMO / CAO organisation responsible of the in-service aircraft when holding the "PtF" privilege.