Jyrki Paajanen posted in General Aviation
Hi GA Community!
A little reminder to give pilots with third-country licences something to do whilst waiting for better weather:
As you may have seen in recent Europe Air Sports and AOPA bulletins, 2022 will finally bring an end to the exemption for being based in the EU and flying third-country registered aircraft with third country licences (e.g. Flying N-registered aircraft with FAA licence, when living permanently in the EU).
The current exemption runs out on 20 June 2022 and will not be renewed. From then on you will need an EU licence.
We have kept extending that exemption possibility year after year to await the entry into application of the licencing annex to the EU-USA BASA. That annex is now in force and Member States are processing applications to validate licences to meet the deadline. The text of the annex can be found here:
https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/tip-l_final_signe.pdf
The main rules on converting from FAA to EU licence, are in section B, starting on page 12.
The EASA Basic Regulation (Article 2(1)(b)(ii) ) determines that the operation of aircraft is subject to the Basic Regulation, if they are “registered in a third country and operated by an aircraft operator established, residing or with a principal place of business in the territory to which the Treaties apply ”. This means also holding a Part-FCL licence to fly a third-country registered aircraft.
Therefore, if you are based in the EU and flying with a third country licence, I recommend you get in touch with your local licencing authority asap to talk through the process of transferring to an EASA licence. I realise that many people may not like the way the BASA turned out, and may not like the rules, but please remember that the transfer takes months. If you want to transfer and continue flying, initiate the transfer now, or risk being grounded next summer.
Let’s make sure no-one gets unnecessarily grounded :-)
Regards,
Jyrki Paajanen
Hi Jyrki,
There are people out there that fly with third country registration because the Type/Class aircraft is not validated in EU. Even if they have an EU FCL license it will not help because the TC holder is not interested to validate the plane. Are they grounded in June?
Unfortunately the TIP-L does not cater to pilots of single-engine turbine airplanes on the US register. Since no type rating is required for such airplanes in the US, there is no US rating that can be converted into a SET rating in Europe. Can these pilots be grand-fathered into a SET rating?
How will this affect US Airlines that currently have Crew Bases in Europe...will their pilots need to convert to European Licenses to continue operating?
@Chris:
The exemption that allows Member States to permit EU-based pilots to operate with third country licences is limited to non-commercial operations (See Article 12(4) of Regulation 1178/2011). Hence the airlines never benefited from this alleviation that was granted to GA pilots.
@Axel-Stephane:
They could first get the PPL/IR SEP licence and then obtain a SET rating by undergoing the same training as any other EU-licenced pilot.
@Roger:
Just to make sure I understand correctly: Are you referring to an aircraft that has no EASA Type Certificate, but would require a type rating if it did? Could you give an example of the kind of aircraft you have in mind?
Hello Jyrki, I am considering to fly for FedEx out of the Cologne base and want to make sure that they will not be affected by this before I submit my application. So, I assume that there will be no change in this situation. I also own a 172RG in Germany and would like to have my wife get an FAA license so she can operate the aircraft. I have tried to contact the FAA but am getting the run-around...do you have a good point of contact to get more information?
I was able to speak with an Inspector at a FSDO. Apparently the Certificate that is issued is NOT like the typical one that is issued based on a foreign license, but instead is a full FAA Private Pilot Certificate with no expiration date and does not need the Foreign Certificate to remain valid after issuance. On the other hand, I just need to get my European Medical then and meet the other requirements...I am still curious what the situation with the FedEx base is though...as far as you can tell, will FedEx be able to remain in the future or will they be kicked out? And I could not find anywhere in that 50 page Document that explains that this is for Non-Commercial operations only...quite confusing. Perhaps I should start a Flight School with my airplane and then I do not need to worry about this rule ;)
Chris,
There is no change to the situation of commercial operators, like FedEx. They never had the exemption, so are not affected by its end either. You will need to ask FedEx how they solved the issue at the time (i.e. whether they have aircraft in EU register, a subsidiary here etc.) and what licences they require from you. Such licencing requirements are common across the world, so I am sure they have a solution for their pilots.
As for your wife's situation, the FSDO inspector is right. Using the BASA route to convert gives you a standalone FAA licence. That said, I believe the US also still has the old piggy-back licence route available, but that indeed requires the foreign licence to remain valid. You will need to ask them about the options.
As for BASA applying only to non-commercial licences, the clue is right in the title of the section of the BASA licencing annex that I pointed to (Section B, or Section C), which only speaks of issuance of a "Private Pilot Licence". Also Article 12(4) of the Aircrew Regulation (1178/211) speaks of just "non-commercial" licences being granted the exemption:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:02011R117…
Jyrki
Hello Jyrki, I just finished the training program and flew with an Examiner to get my German Multi-Engine Instrument Licence. However, the Examiner was not able to issue me a licence apparently because the LBA is telling him that this is not possible. Apparently they did not understand the clause under 2.4.6 (c) "a successful skill test in a MEP land airplane will also meet the requirements for the skill test on SEP land airplanes, as written in point FCL.620(c) of EU Regulation 1178/2011." I have both SEL and MEL on my FAA ATPL.
Chris, I spoke with someone you know yesterday and understood it was an IT issue and not so much misunderstanding of the rules or refusing to apply them. Also gave her contacts to speak to.
Of course IT issues also need to be sorted in a reasonable time and are not an excuse not to issue a licence, but still a different matter than categorical refusal to issue a licence.
Hello , I have a question regarding tail number . Is it legal to fly in EU with an airplane ( general aviation ) with FAA (N) tail number or is mandatory to register in EU ? As a resident in EU my question if is mandatory to change the registration or if is possible to fly and if is legal . thx
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