Commission Regulation (EU) No 452/2014 of 29 April 2014 laying down technical requirements and administrative procedures related to air operations of third country operators pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council Text with EEA relevance

This Regulation lays down detailed rules for third country operators of aircraft referred to in Article 4(1)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 engaged in commercial air transport operations into, within or out of the territory subject to the provisions of the Treaty, including conditions for issuing, maintaining, amending, limiting, suspending or revoking their authorisations, the privileges and responsibilities of the holders of authorisations as well as conditions under which operations shall be prohibited, limited or subject to certain conditions in the interest of safety.

For the purposes of this Regulation: (1) ‘alternative means of compliance’ are those that propose an alternative to an existing Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) or those that propose new means to establish compliance with Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 and its Implementing Rules for which no associated AMC have been adopted by the Agency; (2) ‘commercial air transport (CAT) operation’ means an aircraft operation to transport passengers, cargo or mail for remuneration or other valuable consideration; (3) ‘flight’ means a departure from a specified aerodrome towards a specified destination aerodrome; (4) ‘third country operator’ means any operator holding an air operator certificate issued by a third country.

Third country operators shall only engage in commercial air transport operations within, into or out of the territory subject to the provisions of the Treaty if they comply with the requirements of Annex 1 and hold an authorisation issued by the Agency in accordance with Annex 2 to this Regulation.

1 This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2 By way of derogation from the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, Member States that at the date of entry into force of this Regulation are issuing operating permits or equivalent documents to third country operators in accordance with their national law shall continue to do so. The third country operators shall comply with the scope and privileges defined in the permit or equivalent document granted by the Member State until the Agency has taken a decision in accordance with Annex 2 to this Regulation. Member States shall inform the Agency of the issue of such operating permits or equivalent documents. After the date the Agency has taken a decision for the relevant third country operator, or after a maximum period of 30 months after entry into force of this Regulation, whichever comes sooner, the Member State shall no longer perform a safety assessment of that third country operator in accordance with their national law when issuing operating permits.

3 Third country operators that at the date of entry into force hold an operating permit or equivalent document, shall submit an application for an authorisation to the Agency no later than 6 months after entry into force of this Regulation. The application shall contain information about any operating permits granted by a Member State.

4 Upon receiving an application, the Agency shall assess the third country operator's compliance with the applicable requirements. The assessment shall be completed no later than 30 months after entry into force of this Regulation.