Under Part-TCO, EASA requires third country operators to apply for a prior authorisation before a new fleet with different ICAO type designator can be used for flights under their TCO authorisation.
Until now, business jet operators needed to apply with EASA for prior re-authorisation before operating a new aircraft fleet (different ICAO designator) under their TCO Authorisation. In order to facilitate the specific needs of the Business Aviation sector, EASA has introduced an important alleviation for this industry segment:
Business aviation aircraft falling into a class specified by EASA for TCO purposes will be combined in a single TCO Specification Sheet called “TCO Business Aircraft”. New aircraft types meeting the criteria may be used by the TCO Authorisation holder right upon notification of that new aircraft to EASA using the Agency’s online ‘TCO Web-Interface’. A prior explicit approval from EASA is not any longer required.
It remains the responsibility of the operator to ensure that new aircraft are compliant with all applicable international standards. EASA will continue to perform a technical assessment of the fleet, but will not issue a separate specification sheet any longer. This ensures that the safety objective is met with less paperwork involved.
In order to qualify for the combined specifications under “TCO Business Aircraft” the following criteria must be met:
- The operator’s primary business is non-scheduled passenger transport, business aviation or the conduct of air ambulance flights; and
- The new fleet:
i. is not used for scheduled operations;
ii. is a multi-engine passenger aeroplane;
iii. is operated by multi-crew;
iv. does not exceed an MCTM of 45 500 kg;
v. is not authorized to carry more than 19 passengers;
vi. holds an EASA type certificate;
vii. holds a standard Certificate of Airworthiness;
viii. is compliant with all applicable international standards.
The decision to issue combined specifications for “TCO Business Aircraft” is at the sole discretion of EASA and depends among other factors on the safety performance of the operator.
It is neither necessary nor desired that operators explicitly apply for this alleviation. EASA will grant this alleviation at the next opportunity to qualifying operators, whenever the conditions are met.
