The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) today praised the EASA Committee’s vote on EASA Opinion 06/2015, which contains a regulatory framework for Commercial Air Transport (CAT) operations using Single-Engine Turbine aeroplanes at night or in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (SET-IMC). The vote on the regulation is a key milestone in completing two decades of technical work between industry and regulators, and places Europe on a path to align with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) standards for CAT operations. The Committee is compromised of the European Commission and national experts from each EU country.
“This new regulation will help expand the market for passenger transport to underserved markets and improve overnight cargo delivery not only in central Europe, but in the remote regions of the continent as well,” GAMA Vice President of Operations Jens Hennig said. “EASA has led the way to establish a safety framework for these operations, and we applaud their leadership on this long-standing policy issue. It is a welcome development for manufacturers, operators, and service providers.”
Work on a regulatory framework for single-engine commercial operations began in the early 1990s. These operations are quite common around the world and are based on ICAO standards issued in 2005. GAMA, and several of the association’s members, participated in a rulemaking group created by European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2012 to help develop the agency’s regulatory framework. EASA proposed the regulatory framework in 2014 and presented the draft regulation to the European Commission in late 2015. Following this week’s vote in the EASA Committee, the amended regulation must complete a final round of scrutiny by the EU institutions before its official publication, after which it can take effect in approximately six months.
