This Opinion addresses safety, economic and regulatory coordination issues related to the provision of data to airspace users for the purpose of safety-critical air navigation. Acknowledging the importance of correct data and information being fed into the airborne system and highlighting that the lack of such correct data could lead to significant safety risks for a flight, the specific objectives of this proposal are to:
— ensure that the aeronautical data and information for use on certified aircraft systems are processed in a way that guarantees their quality and meets the requirements set by the aircraft manufacturers for the airspace end-users intended use;
— provide cost-efficient rules in the field of air navigation and aircraft operation by avoiding double oversight of the data services by the competent authority and by the operators contracting their services; and
— ensure that the Single European Sky (SES) objectives on interoperability with respect to data used on aircraft systems are achieved.
This Opinion proposes amendments to:
— the draft Commission Regulation …/… on the ‘Requirements for service providers and the oversight thereof’, proposed through Opinion No 03/2014, as regards the specific organisation requirements and responsibilities applicable to Data services (DAT) providers, as well as the associated technical requirements for the provision of data services; and
— Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 (hereinafter referred to as the Air OPS Regulation) by discharging aircraft operators from their data suppliers auditing obligation.
This regulatory system will support the implementation of Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) throughout the European Union and will provide for cost-effectiveness through the reduction of regulatory burden on aircraft operators and of competent authorities’ oversight tasks at national level.
The measures proposed in this Opinion and the related Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Guidance Material (GM) were subject to public consultation through NPA 2014-20. EASA believes that the topics raised have been addressed to the satisfaction of the affected stakeholders.
