Switzerland-based AeroEx (Stand 3260), a firm that specializes in supporting operators for their back-office safety tasks, is offering help for compliance with the new Third Country Operators (TCO) rules (the so called “Part-TCO”) that will soon be enforced by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), subject to approval by the European Parliament and Council.

If all goes to plan, from spring next year the new EASA rules will require all commercial TCOs to apply for authorization when flying into, within and/or out of the 32 EASA member states (EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). They also will apply to other territories to which EC Basic Regulation 216/2008 also applies (Gibraltar, the Azores, the Åland Islands, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Saint-Martin and Mayotte).

The idea is to harmonize and streamline the authorization process–TCOs currently have to apply to the national authority of the first European country they were flying to (they are not required for overflying). The advantage, according to EASA, is that once one authorization is acquired from one country in the group, it will be valid for all.

The standard authorization process will validate the operator’s certificate, as granted by its own national authority, usually with only a desktop review. On-site audits will only apply when the operator is deemed “critical” (such as being on the EU Safety List, or “Black List”) or after suspension of a TCO authorization. EASA and its member states will conduct inspections, exchange safety information and periodically review the authorization.

A list of TCOs will be available on the Internet, said EASA, which says that applicants will need to apply for TCO authorization at least 30 days before the planned operation to Europe (a separate process is being developed for charter operators).

Operators who fail to apply within six months after the regulation becomes effective may face delays in the authorization process, which could lead to a disruption of their operations, AeroEx warned. One-time ad-hoc authorizations are only envisaged for humanitarian, emergency or urgent flights. AeroEx therefore recommends that TCOs apply as soon as possible.

The company provides assistance to the aviation community with a particular focus on compliance with EASA regulations. Services include training and seminars, assessments, gap analyses and audits, project management, manual preparation and updates as well as risk and safety management.