The European Plan for Aviation Safety (2020-2024) foresees a regular update of the air operations rules (RMT.0392) to ensure safety, efficiency and proportionality of the regulatory framework of Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 (Air Ops rules). Necessary updates will reflect technological and market developments and will take into account identified implementation issues. Additionally, the lessons learned from the management of the COVID-19 crisis will be taken into account for the regular update of the Air Ops rules.
The following topics will be included in this RMT:
- Required changes following the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 (‘the Basic Regulation’);
- Enable operations of electrically or hybrid powered aircraft (limited to ‘conventional’ aeroplanes and helicopters; multi-rotor electrical aircraft are not included in the scope of this task);
- Support digitalisation of air operations by removing potential regulatory barriers and updating rules where necessary;
- Lessons learned from the application of the current rules, e.g. feedback from standardisation inspections, use of flexibility provisions, use of alternative means of compliance;
- Feedback from stakeholders during stakeholder consultations and via advisory bodies, e.g. on operations performed by a group of aircraft operators sharing the same management system or belonging to the same ‘mother company’ (also called ‘group operations’);
- Implementation of recent ICAO Standards And Recommended Practices (SARPs) that are not subject of dedicated rulemaking tasks (e.g., extended diversion time operations (EDTO));
- Addressing safety issues stemming from safety recommendations that are not subject of dedicated rulemaking tasks.