As of January 1, 2021, can EASA Part-145 aircraft certification privileges be granted to a person holding an aircraft maintenance licence issued by the UK CAA?
As of January 1, 2021, Part-145 certification privileges can be granted based on Aircraft Maintenance licenses issued by the UK CAA, subject to compliance with the provisions of EASA Part-145 Appendix IV and the geographical limitations defined in Point 145.A.30(j)(1)/(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1321/2012 (i.e. where maintenance is performed at organisation facilities located outside the EU territory or where line maintenance carried out at a line station of an organisation which is located outside the EU territory).
As of January 1, 2021, will it be possible for CAMO organisations approved by EASA or an EASA Member State to sub-contract part of its continuing airworthiness management activities to an organisation located in the UK?
Yes, it will be possible. Under the provisions of Part-M and Part-CAMO, a continuing airworthiness management organisation can arrange to carry out limited continuing airworthiness tasks with any contracted organisation working under its quality system, as listed on the approval certificate. This sub-contracting cannot concern however airworthiness review tasks.
As of January 1, 2021, can a CAMO located in the UK and approved by EASA issue an ARC, or a recommendation for the issuance of an ARC by an EASA Member State, after performing an airworthiness review of an aircraft registered in an EASA Member State?
No, it cannot. The privileges to conduct an airworthiness review of aircraft registered in an EASA Member State and to issue a corresponding ARC or a recommendation for issuance of an ARC are granted under Annex I (Part-M) and Annex Vc (Part-CAMO) of Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014 only to CAMOs located in EASA Member States.
Can a maintenance organisation approved by an EASA Member State (or EASA) under Part-145 certify maintenance performed on a UK-registered aircraft as of January 1, 2021?
A maintenance organisation approved by an EASA Member State or EASA cannot perform any maintenance on UK-registered aircraft in accordance with point 145.A.50 of Annex II (Part-145) of Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014. However EU law does not prevent UK from adopting national regulations permitting maintenance release of UK-registered aircraft by a Part-145 organisation approved by EASA or an EASA Member State. For more information on the different possibilities please refer to the following link:
As of January 1, 2021, will parts and other components with an ‘EASA Form 1’ issued prior to January 1, 2021 by a maintenance organisation located in UK be still eligible to be fitted on an aircraft registered in a EASA Member State?
Such individually identifiable components for which a UK certified maintenance organisation issued an ‘EASA Form 1’ and placed them on the market before January 1, 2021 can continue to be used and fitted on an aircraft registered in an EASA Member State also after that date, unless the part or other component has been damaged or not stored in accordance with the EU aviation safety requirements. This is foreseen by Article 41 of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.
It is recalled that an ‘EASA Form 1’ is only a statement of airworthiness at the time of its issue, and, as stated in Appendix II to Part-M of Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014, ‘EASA Form 1’ “does not constitute approval to install the item on a particular aircraft, engine, or propeller but helps the end user determine its airworthiness approval status”. It is therefore the ultimate responsibility of the user or installer to make this installation decision.
After December 31, 2020, the UK based maintenance organisation must hold an EASA Part 145 approval in order to be able to continue issuing ‘EASA Form 1’ for components which are to be fitted on an aircraft registered in an EASA Member State.
Is it possible for a Part-145 approved organisation to issue an ‘EASA Form 1’ for a component removed ‘serviceable’ from a UK registered aircraft after December 31, 2020?
When the Part-145 aircraft maintenance organisation has the capability to control the airworthiness status of components, then §2.6.2 of AMC2 145.A.50(d) is applicable in such cases. In accordance with those provisions it is possible for a Part-145 approved aircraft maintenance organisation to remove a component from a UK registered aircraft provided that such a component is removed under a procedure concerning issuance of an ‘EASA Form1’ for components removed ‘serviceable’ from a non-EU registered aircraft, which is approved in the MOE of the organisation conducting the removal. Otherwise, the component must first undergo workshop maintenance by a Part-145 component maintenance organisation in accordance with the procedure described in §2.8 of AMC2 145.A.50(d) before receiving an ‘EASA Form 1’.
Will an ARC of an aircraft registered in an EASA Member State issued or extended before January 1, 2021 by a CAMO located in the UK continue to be recognised in the EU also after that date?
Yes, such an ARC will continue to be valid in the EASA Member States until its normal expiry date, provided that the aircraft was transferred to a registry of an EASA Member State before January 1, 2021.
Can an organisation approved under Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014 manage continuing airworthiness of an aircraft registered in the United Kingdom?
An aircraft registered in the UK is to be considered as a third country aircraft as from January 01, 2021, while the Part M obligations and the organisation approvals granted in accordance with Regulation (EU) 1321/2014 have their applicability limited to:
- aircraft registered in an Member State, unless their regulatory safety oversight has been delegated to a third country and they are not used by an EU operator;
- aircraft registered in a third country and used by an EU operator, where their regulatory safety oversight has been delegated to a Member State;
In addition, aircraft registered in a third country, including the UK, for which their regulatory safety oversight has not been delegated to a Member State and that are dry leased-in by an air carrier licensed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008, shall be managed by an approved continuing airworthiness management organisation complaint with Part M Subpart G (or Part-CAMO) and Part T Subpart G (refer to T.A.701). These aircraft however are issued with a Certificate of Airworthiness by the third country of registry and are not subject to EU requirements concerning ARC (or its extension) laid down in Part-M, but instead should comply with the continuing airworthiness rules of the State where they are registered.
The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement does not currently address activities covered by Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014.
As an EASA approved maintenance organisation outside the EU, can I use design data approved under UK regulations to release components or EU-registered aircraft?
EASA approved maintenance organisation can use design data approved under UK regulations in cases where these design data are directly accepted, or when validated by EASA.
As explained in the following FAQ items https://www.easa.europa.eu/faq/124095 and https://www.easa.europa.eu/faq/124097 , minor design changes and repairs approved by the UK CAA or by an approved organisation under laws and regulations of the United Kingdom (UK DOA)are directly accepted without the need for EASA to issue a certificate. Other design approvals (TC, STC, Major Change, Major Repair, ETSOA) require a validation by EASA.
When directly accepted (or once validated by EASA when applicable), the design data can be used by EASA approved maintenance organisations to release component or EU-registered aircraft, regardless of the location of the approved maintenance organisations.