{"id":18302,"date":"2014-09-01T06:30:35","date_gmt":"2014-09-01T11:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.universalweather.com\/blog\/?p=18302"},"modified":"2024-05-06T08:37:21","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T13:37:21","slug":"easa-announces-tco-authorization-new-requirements-for-business-aviation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.universalweather.com\/blog\/easa-announces-tco-authorization-new-requirements-for-business-aviation\/","title":{"rendered":"EASA Announces TCO Authorization \u2013 New Requirements for Business Aviation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has announced Third-Country Operator (TCO) authorization requirements for all non-European Union (EU)-registered commercial operators traveling to the EU. This new regulatory requirement impacts both scheduled commercial and charter (non-scheduled commercial) operations.<\/p>\n

The following is an overview of what you need to know:<\/p>\n

1. Many corporate operations to the EU are being affected<\/h2>\n

TCO authorization requirements impact all non-EU registered operators who perform flights to the EU under Air Operator Certificates (AOCs) \u2013 regardless of the specific purpose of the flight or flight leg. This requirement also applies to certain non-EU countries in Europe, including Switzerland. Even if your flight is private non-revenue, you’ll need to have TCO authorization when operating with a management company’s charter certificate. As long as your flight is under operational control of a company with an AOC, you’ll need TCO authorization \u2013 regardless of whether you’re operating the specific flight leg as private or charter.<\/p>\n

2. Reasons for this new regulation<\/h2>\n

EASA has implemented TCO authorization for general safety and security purposes. We do not know, at this time, what other specific purposes this regulation may serve. It may be that EASA wants to monitor operator patterns \u2013 in terms of certain compliance issues. There is, of course, potential for additional EASA-mandated TCO authorization requirements to be added to the process in the future. All of this, however, remains unknown at this time.<\/p>\n

3. TCO authorizations are operator-specific<\/h2>\n

Authorizations from EASA are required for the operator and not specific aircraft. If you operate all flights under a management company, then the management company applies for and obtains the TCO authorization. If you have your own AOC, in addition to being under a management company AOC, then two TCO authorization applications must be submitted.<\/p>\n

4. TCO authorization \u2013 what it involves<\/h2>\n

This authorization is obtained from EASA after submitting a TCO application online. While your application must reference information found on documentation, no actual documents are required to be submitted with the application. After TCO authorization is approved the operator, remains responsible for informing EASA of any material changes to what’s been submitted on the application.<\/p>\n

5. Applying for a TCO<\/h2>\n

EASA released this new regulation (EU 452\/2014<\/a>) on May 26, 2014, and a six-month grace period is allowed for operators to submit TCO applications. So, by November 25, 2014, you’ll need to submit a TCO application if you plan to operate charter flights to the EU, or private non-revenue flights under operational control of a company with an AOC. There will then be a 30-month grace period for EASA to review all submitted applications. Applying for TCO authorization is just a matter of completing an online application and submitting it to EASA. Operators obtain the TCO authorization application online<\/a> from EASA’s website and submit it to EASA via e-mail, fax, or mail. Some operators have submitted their applications and received acknowledgement within a few days. Your 3rd-party provider may be able to assist in this process; however, the operator must provide a declaration allowing the 3rd-party provider to act on the operator’s behalf. We recommend that operators take care of this application process directly with EASA.<\/p>\n

6. Information required on TCO authorizations<\/h2>\n

To complete an online TCO authorization application, you’ll need to provide:<\/p>\n