IS-BAO May Be Path for Complying With Part NCC, Experts Say

23 May 2016

The final deadline for compliance with EASA’s new Part NCC regulations is 25 Aug., and while the European business aviation community has successfully raised several issues with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), some open questions remain, said panelists at the 2016 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2016) Safety Workshop.

EBACE Safety Workshop

August is when all general opt-outs expire for complying with Part NCC, the EU’s regulations for “non-commercial operations with complex motor-powered aircraft.”

One aspect that’s still unclear is which operators are considered NCC operators. It could potentially include the pilots, the aircraft owner, the holder of the air operator’s certificate, the owner of the special purpose entity that leases the aircraft to an end user – even an aero club.

However, complying with the regulations may be less of a challenge than understanding them.

“A few months before NCC comes in, we’re still getting a lot of queries [about the regulations] from our members,” said Brian Humphries, president of the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA). “Most people are already compliant. It’s just a question of making sure you do it to the right processes, and we’ve got some great industry tools that facilitate compliance.”

Industry Tools and Compliance Through IS-BAO

One of those tools is a new Part NCC generic company operations manual, included in the package of materials for European operators registering for the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO).

Representatives from EBAA and the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) have also been meeting with EASA about the possibility of recognizing IS-BAO as an alternative method of compliance for Part NCC.

IBAC’s director of the IS-BAO program, Sonny Bates, has been invited by EASA this summer to train its regulators, and those from national civil aviation authorities, on IS-BAO.

“This is the first significant step for acknowledging the value of IS-BAO for operators in Europe,” said Bates.

Bates explained that Part NCC was written to align with ICAO Annex 6 Part II, and IS-BAO was also written to align with Annex 6 Part II; that in fact, “IS-BAO and Part NCC are congruent.” He said the indications are that EASA officials “want to recognize IS-BAO, it’s just a matter of how.”