ADR.16 What is the underlying definition of “passengers” in the context of exemptions mentioned under Art. 2(7) of the EASA New Basic Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2018/1139)?
Answer
According to Article 2(7) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, a Member State may decide to issue an exemption from the provisions of this regulation and its implementing rules when the aerodrome in question handles no more than 10,000 commercial air transport passengers per year and no more than 850 movements related to cargo operations per year.
The exact term “commercial air transport passengers” is not defined in Regulation (EU) 2018/1139. However, in accordance with Article 3 (24) of the same regulation, commercial air transport is defined as an aircraft operation to transport passengers, cargo or mail for remuneration or other valuable consideration.
Passengers are practically all persons on board an aircraft, who are not crew members. This corresponds with the practice at Eurostat in its 2015 “Reference Manual on Air Transport Statistics”, where the following definition is given: “Air Passenger” any person, excluding on-duty members of the flight and cabin crews, who makes a journey by air. Infants in arms are included.”