JAA, JAR, EASA, EU OPS ????

[Capt Groper]

Howdie. Can somebody simplify European terminology.

An I correct to assume that as of April 2012 JAA & JARs and the associated ACM etc will cease to exist.

It appears that the EASA is being established and slowly taking over as the European Aviation Authority for Commercial Flight Operations. If i'm correct then this authority will have it's own regulations and sub regs, appendices, ACMs etc.

What are the present EU OPS labels attached to approach charts? Are they new codes to signify compliance with EASA ops.

Is this new authority to be based in Brussels?

Pls help as there's a jumble of abbreviations out there.

[Denti]

EASA is based in cologne, germany. Our approachs charts have an EU-OPS label and EU-OPS 1 is the current legislation. In April 2012 a new EASA-OPS is supposed to come into force, we will see if that date will be kept.

There are still local regulations so you might have to check both in some cases.

[ella_dani]

An I correct to assume that as of April 2012 JAA & JARs and the associated ACM etc will cease to exist.
YES

It appears that the EASA is being established and slowly taking over as the European Aviation Authority for Commercial Flight Operations. If i'm correct then this authority will have it's own regulations and sub regs, appendices, ACMs etc.

A new regulation, the so-called Cover Regulation, will enter into force not later than April 2012. The regulation has several Annexes and here come the abbreviations:
- Part-NCO (non-commercial operations with other-than-complex motor-powered aircraft);
- Part-NCC (non-commercial operations with complex motor-powered aircraft);
- Part-CAT (commercial air transport operations);
- Part-SPO (specialised operations);
- Part-SPA (operations requiring specific approvals)
As for the personnel licenses there will be:
- Part-FCL (flight personnel licensing)
- Part-MED (medical)
- Part-CC (cabin crew)
The Cover Regulation includes all the OPS issues.
There will be neither JAR-OPS 1/2/3, JAR-FCL nor EU-OPS/OPS any more.

Is this new authority to be based in Brussels?
No, EASA will continue to regulate the EU aviation.

Ella

[michelda]

Hi Ella
Do you know when EASA will publish this new regulation?
Many thanks
Michelda

[ella_dani]

The draft Commission Regulation with the Annexes is published at EASA website.

EASA - Opinions (http://www.easa.eu.int/agency-measures/opinions.php)

Ella

[bookworm]

An I correct to assume that as of April 2012 JAA & JARs and the associated ACM etc will cease to exist.

The JAA ceased to exist on 30 June 2009.

It appears that the EASA is being established and slowly taking over as the European Aviation Authority for Commercial Flight Operations. If i'm correct then this authority will have it's own regulations and sub regs, appendices, ACMs etc.

EASA (http://easa.europa.eu) is an Agency of the European Union ('A' for 'Agency') based in Cologne.

EASA has been responsible for certification and continuing airworthiness in the EU for a few years now. The Basic Regulation (http://easa.europa.eu/regulations/regulations-structure.php#BR) sits at the top level and sets out the principles, and below it sit Implementing Rules, supported by AMC/GM and certification specifications.

EU-OPS (which pre-dates EASA) has governed Commercial Air Transportation operations in the EU since 2008, with some aspects coming into force in 2009, some quite recently in 2011, which may be why you're starting to see EU-OPS labels on the charts.

EASA's 'competence' has been extended to Flight Crew Licensing and Operations by an amendment to the Basic Regulation in 2008. Thus in April 2012, with transition periods of 2-3 years in some cases, Part-FCL and OPS will start to replace national licensing and operations rules for all flights, as well as replacing EU-OPS for CAT.

Part-FCL is at a more advanced and is reported to have passed the last regulatory hurdle in the European Parliament. EASA's Opinion for Part-FCL (http://www.easa.eu.int/flightstandards/opinion_fcl.html) was set out last year, though the subsequent regulatory process has modified it. I don't know where to find the current version.

OPS (http://www.easa.eu.int/flightstandards/npa_ops.html) is made up of 7 different parts, but essentially divides operations into Part-CAT, other commercial ops (Part-SPO), non-commercial operations with complex aircraft (jets, multi-turboprops and similar) (Part-NCC) and non-commercial operations with non-complex aircraft (Part-NCO).

EASA's Opinion on Part-CAT was published last year. It hasn't yet been through the rest of the legislative process: comitology and then adoption by the European Parliament.

The Comment Response Documents (http://www.easa.europa.eu/rulemaking/comment-response-documents-CRDs-and-review-groups.php) for Part-NCC and Part-NCO have just been published. There's a phase for "reactions" from stakeholders, the the corresponding Opinion will be published.

Part-SPO hasn't even got as far as a CRD yet.

Hope that helps.