SPA.GEN.100 Competent authority
Regulation (EU) 2019/1384
(a) The competent authority for issuing a specific approval shall be:
(1) for the commercial operator, the authority of the Member State in which the operator has its principal place of business;
(2) for the non-commercial operator, the authority of the State in which the operator has its principal place of business, is established or is residing.
(b) Notwithstanding point (a)(2), for the non-commercial operator using aircraft registered in a third country, the applicable requirements under this Annex for the approval of the following operations shall not apply if those approvals are issued by a third-country State of Registry:
(1) performance-based navigation (PBN);
(2) minimum operational performance specifications (MNPS);
(3) reduced vertical separation minima (RVSM) airspace;
(4) low visibility operations (LVO).
GM1 SPA.GEN.100(a) Competent authority
ED Decision 2019/019/R
DETERMINING THE PLACE WHERE AN OPERATOR IS RESIDING
For the purpose of Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, the concept of ‘place where the operator is residing’ is mainly addressed to a natural person.
The place where the operator resides is the place where the operator complies with his or her tax obligations.
Several criteria can be used to help determining a person’s place of residence. These include, for example:
(a) the duration of a person’s presence on the territory of the countries concerned;
(b) the person’s family status and ties;
(c) the person’s housing situation and how permanent it is;
(d) the place where the person pursues professional or non-profit activities;
(e) the characteristics of the person’s professional activity; and
(f) the Member State where the person resides for taxation purposes.
SPA.GEN.105 Application for a specific approval
Regulation (EU) No 71/2014
(a) The operator applying for the initial issue of a specific approval shall provide to the competent authority the documentation required in the applicable Subpart, together with the following information:
(1) the name, address and mailing address of the applicant;
(2) a description of the intended operation.
(b) The operator shall provide the following evidence to the competent authority:
(1) compliance with the requirements of the applicable Subpart;
(2) that the relevant elements defined in the mandatory part of the operational suitability data established in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 748/2012 are taken into account.
(c) The operator shall retain records relating to (a) and (b) at least for the duration of the operation requiring a specific approval, or, if applicable, in accordance with Annex III (Part-ORO).
DOCUMENTATION
(a) Operating procedures should be documented in the operations manual.
(b) If an operations manual is not required, operating procedures may be described in a manual specifying procedures (procedures manual). If the aircraft flight manual (AFM) or the pilot operating handbook (POH) contains such procedures, they should be considered as acceptable means to document the procedures.
SPA.GEN.110 Privileges of an operator holding a specific approval
Regulation (EU) No 800/2013
The scope of the activity that an operator is approved to conduct shall be documented and specified:
(a) for operators holding an air operator certificate (AOC) in the operations specifications to the AOC;
(b) for all other operators in the list of specific approvals.
SPA.GEN.115 Changes to a specific approval
Regulation (EU) No 965/2012
When the conditions of a specific approval are affected by changes, the operator shall provide the relevant documentation to the competent authority and obtain prior approval for the operation.
SPA.GEN.120 Continued validity of a specific approval
Regulation (EU) No 71/2014
Specific approvals shall be issued for an unlimited duration and shall remain valid subject to the operator remaining in compliance with the requirements associated with the specific approval and taking into account the relevant elements defined in the mandatory part of the operational suitability data established in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 748/2012.