Transition period ends for third-country operators

From November 26, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Third Country Operators (TCO) regulation became fully implemented. This means that only operators holding a TCO authorization from the EASA will be allowed to operate commercial flights to and from EASA member states, which includes members of the EU, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Iceland.
The 30-month transition period began in May 2014, subsequent to which the EASA has issued approaching 600 authorisations to operators certified in 90 different third countries which, today, sees more than half a million flights using over 7,000 aircraft to the EU on an annual basis.
The TCO is the result of the European Council tasking the EASA with managing a single European-based system to vet the safety performance of foreign air carriers. The EASA is responsible for issuing safety authorizations to foreign air carriers once it was satisfied that minimum international (ICAO) safety standards had been complied with.
A TCO authorization issued by the EASA should be applied for by any third-country operator intending to perform commercial air transport (CAT) operations into, within, or out of any of the above-mentioned EU and EFTA states. The “Basic Regulation” (EC) No 216/2008 will apply to Gibraltar, Åland Islands, Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Saint-Martin, Mayotte.
The TCO Authorisation process comprises four separate phases: Application, Evaluation, Authorisation and Monitoring. A dedicated web-based software application supports communications between EASA and the operator.
EASA has adopted a risk-based approach for TCO assessments such that credible data sources are continuously analysed. According to the EASA, “The lower [its] confidence in a foreign operator’s safety performance or, or the less credible data available for an operator or the State in which the operator is certified, the more comprehensive the assessment. As an example, for operators with high confidence level a simple and fast desktop review of completed questionnaires and material evidence is sufficient, whereas operators with lowered confidence levels will be invited by EASA to a technical meeting in Cologne, or EASA will request to perform a TCO audit on site.”