Cabotage in Europe

[Will Rogers]

An article about International Operations in the May issue of Aviation International News talks about N-registered aircraft operation to/from and in Europe. It says that a N-registered aircraft may not undertake cabotage by picking up passengers in Paris and flying them to Nice for revenue (part 135).

Does the same restriction apply for VP-B, C, etc. or P4- registered aircraft? If an operator has their aircraft registered in the above countries (or any other) then what does the rule say? Logic says that anyone registered outside the E.U. and who does not operate under JAR-OPS may not perform charter ops inside the E.U. but as we all know logic is not always applied in aviation. :)

My understanding is that Aruba actually uses JAR-OPS for any charter operations on an AOC. Is this correct and if so, may those operator holding an Aruban AOC then fly charters within the E.U.? Aruba is not listed as a member of the JAA but then again the Netherlands are and I guess Aruba in some way is a part of the Netherlands???

So basically the queation is: who may perform charters INSIDE the E.U. i.e. pick customers up in the E.U. and bring them out and back or bring them from an airport in the E.U. to another airport inside the E.U.? Confusing enough? :O

Cheers,

Will :)

[LGW Vulture]

Any EU operator can operate inside the EU without restriction.

However, if that operator is operating an aircraft registered outside the EU - the overseas territories are included in this - then this is a little more complicated. I think an application has to be made and subject to no objections by other operators, then the flight can go ahead.

I don't think that an Aruban JAROps operator can operate without restriction in the EU. Different rules apply to the overseas territories!

Anyone throw a different light?

[Bikerpilot]

There is no restriction to a non EU reg a/c operating within Europe if it is privately owned. The problems start with charter ops( part 135) within europe of non EU reg a/c. To give an example: a/c operates a flight from Cairo to Paris. Next day it operates Paris- Luton. This is only non cabotage if the exact same pax are on board the a/c which were on the a/c for CAI-Paris.

If for the above flt to Luton,if the customer had different pax, you would have to ferry Paris -non EU city ( GVA ) , n/stop, next day operate GVA-Paris-Luton.

That's my understanding on it.

[Cathar]

Any (non EEA) foreign registered aircraft conducting public transport operations within the UK will need a permit from the DfT. I understand that while permits for cabotage flights are not common they can be obtained in certain circumstances.

VP-B and VP-C registered aircraft are not considered to be foreign aircraft and do not need a permits to conduct public transport within the UK (unless operating for the airline of a third country).

[Will Rogers]

So VP-B and VP-C aircraft are not foreign in the UK!? Does this allow them then to operate charters inside the EU (since the UK is a member) or just the UK?

If they may then why is that not the case with a P4 registered aircraft as Aruba is dutch (even though they have their own goverment and all that... Probably pissed someone off now - sorry! :O )?

So the question still stands... Can a VP-B, C or P4 registered aircraft with an AOC in their respective state of registry (Bermuda, Cayman or Aruba) perform charter ops inside the EU since their states of registry sort of "belongs" to countries in the EU??? :confused:

Cheers,

Will :)

[mutt]

VP-B and VP-C registered aircraft are not considered to be foreign aircraft and do not need a permits to conduct public transport within the UK (unless operating for the airline of a third country).

Can you back this up with a ICAO Annexe reference?

Thanks.

Mutt.

[Cathar]

My comments on Cayman and Bermuda related solely to flights within the UK. Neither they nor Aruba are part of the EC and their airlines do not benefit from intra-EC traffic rights given to community airlines under EC legislation.

That is not to say that they could not obtain permission from a member state to conduct a charter operation.

Happy to quote legislation at you if you would like.

[Cathar]

Mutt

Sorry to miss your question.

This is a matter of UK law rather than an ICAO Annex issue. Bermuda and Cayman Islands are Overseas Territories of the UK. The are not party to the Chicago Convention (nor are they members of ICAO) but are covered by the UK's ratification of the Convention. The Bermuda and Cayman registers are established under UK legislation - currently the Air Navigation (Overseas Territories) Order 2001.

Aircraft nationality marks which have been notified to ICAO are detailed in the supplement to the Annex dealing with the registration of aircraft (Annex 7 I think). VP-B is listed as "UK (Bermuda)", VP-C as "UK (Cayman Islands) and so on.

The following document may be of interest http://www.caa.co.uk/airsafety/default.asp?page=1802

[Will Rogers]

Thanks everyone!
Basically you have to be registered in an European (EC) country and hold a JAR-OPS AOC in that country to be allowed to perform charter work involving customers inside the EC. :)

It all makes sense now... :confused: :}

Will :)

[Celestar]

B]Basically you have to be registered in an European (EC) country and hold a JAR-OPS AOC in that country to be allowed to perform charter work involving customers inside the EC.[/B]

Except in Italy, we don't have any problem to do some cabotage with our HB- (Swiss) aircrafts.

[411A]

Recent information from the NBAA (in the USA) indicates that if, for example, a privately owned US registered aircraft (on a private flight), picks up an EU-national and transports him/her within the EU (guest on said private flight), the aircraft is subject to detention, and the operator (private company) can be fined.
It was specifically mentioned that this problem is mainly centered in France. Nice especially.

[Will Rogers]

Ok ya'll, how about a VP- , P4 or HB registered aircraft picking up an EC citizen inside the EC and transporting him/her to a destination outside the EC??? How about the reverse (EC citizen from outside to destination inside)?

Will :)

[LGW Vulture]

Will........if a private flight no problem. But commercially, applications to the authorities will have to be made.

Swiss aircraft, now there's an interesting one! I believe the Swiss are about to be or have been recently allowed intra EC rights and therefore now have full EC cabotage.