The US aviation division of Gama Aviation1 has become one of the first business aviation operators to receive Third Country Operator (TCO) authorisation from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The Third Country Operator authorization was introduced by EASA in May 2014 and comes into force this November. The authorization allows operators from outside the EU to obtain single safety authorization for any commercial air transport (CAT) operations into, within or out of any of the 28 EU member countries, as well as EU overseas territories and four European Free Trade Association states.
Jason Oakland, Operations Supervisor at Gama Aviation’s US aviation division, commented: “We’re pleased to have become one of the first recipients of EASA Third Country Authorization. The authorization relieves commercial operators from the rather onerous process of applying for access into each of the EU participating states individually, which should speed up the process when applying for permits. We expect this to greatly benefit our clients – many of whom will make regular inter-city business trips across Europe.”
The European approach to the authorization of third country operators will essentially consist of a validation of the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) issued to a foreign air operator by its State’s competent aviation authority. EASA will validate the foreign AOC by issuing an EASA TCO Authorization document accompanied by Technical Specifications, setting out the scope of operations authorized in the EU.
The TCO accreditation is not the only area of EASA regulations where Gama Aviation is taking a lead in the sector. It is providing advising smaller operators and owners on how to comply with EASA Part-NCC2 which, from 25 August 2016, will require operators of many business aircraft to follow the same essential requirements as commercial air transport operators.
The rules are proportionate – instead of holding an AOC, operators based in an EASA state must submit a declaration about their operation, as well as having operation manuals and management systems in place. However, many aircraft owners or operators are unprepared for changes which, according to recent industry estimates, could affect as many as 75% of the fleet of 6,100 business aircraft principally operating in EASA states3.
Duncan Daines, Chief Marketing Officer at Gama Aviation, said: “We feel there is still a great deal of uncertainty amongst the industry regarding the new regulations with some confusion over how they are going to be applied. We have the experience and depth of resource within our team to provide advice to smaller operators and aircraft owners which will ensure they are fully compliant with the new requirements and won’t see their operations grounded come August.”