FAQ n.19499

According to Art. 2.1 (e) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, the applicability of the Basic Regulation (BR) in the domain of aerodromes is as follows:

(e) the design, maintenance and operation of aerodromes, including the safety-related equipment used at those aerodromes, located in the territory to which the Treaties apply, which: 

(i) are open to public use; 
(ii) serve commercial air transport; and 
(iii) have a paved instrument runway of 800 metres or more, or exclusively serve helicopters using instrument approach or departure procedures; 

According to Art. 2.7 of the BR, a Member State can decide to exempt the design, maintenance and operation of an aerodrome, and its safety-related equipment, where that aerodrome handles no more than 10,000 commercial air transport passengers per year and no more than 850 movements related to cargo operations per year. However, the Member State concerned must ensure that such exemption does not endanger compliance with the essential requirements for aerodromes that are detailed in the Annex VII of the BR. 

Art. 2.7 details this exemption possibility even further and states that:

• When such exemption decision is taken for a specific aerodrome, the design, maintenance and operation of the aerodrome concerned and the safety-related equipment and ground handling services and AMS (apron management services) at that aerodrome shall no longer be regulated by this Regulation and by the delegated and implementing acts adopted on the basis thereof;
• When such an exemption decision was granted without meeting the traffic conditions, the Commission will address an Implementing act to the the Member State concerned to modify or revoke its exemption decision; and notify the Commission and the Agency thereof;
• The Member States need to also to notify to the Commission and the Agency all “old” such low traffic exemptions granted under Art. 4 (3b) of the revoked Regulation 216/2008 and examine their traffic figures annually. Where this examination demonstrates that, over three consecutive years, one of those aerodromes handles more than 10 000 commercial air transport passengers per year or more than 850 movements related to cargo operations per year, the Member State concerned shall revoke the exemption of that aerodrome. 
• All such revocations need to be notified to the Commission and the Agency, and the Agency shall include all decisions by the Commission and the Member States in the repository, described under Art. 74 of the Basic Regulation. 

A list of currently exempted aerodromes is found on EASA's website: List of aerodromes falling in the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 [Regulation (EC) No 216/2008] .You can directly filter on screen and download the information.

A Member State shall use a dedicated platform (FlexTool) to provide needed information and upload associated documentation. For troubleshooting, the FlexTool Focal Point (FoP) for the country should contact exemptions [at] easa.europa.eu (exemptions[at]easa[dot]europa[dot]eu).

Aerodrome traffic exemptions notification form (EC) 216/2008 only applicable for Iceland, Liechtenstein & Norway.