‘acceptable means of compliance (AMC)’ means non-binding standards adopted by the Agency to illustrate means to establish compliance with Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 and its implementing rules;

‘aerial work’ means an aircraft operation in which an aircraft is used for specialised services such as agriculture, construction, photography, surveying, observation and patrol, search and rescue or aerial advertisement;

‘aerodrome climatological summary’ means a concise summary of specified meteorological elements at an aerodrome, based on statistical data;

‘aerodrome climatological table’ means a table providing statistical data on the observed occurrence of one or more meteorological elements at an aerodrome;

‘aerodrome elevation’ means the elevation of the highest point of the landing area;

‘aerodrome flight information service (AFIS)’ means flight information service for aerodrome traffic provided by a designated air traffic services provider;

‘aerodrome meteorological office’ means an office responsible for providing meteorological service for an aerodrome;

‘aerodrome warning’ means information issued by an aerodrome meteorological office concerning the occurrence or expected occurrence of meteorological conditions which could adversely affect aircraft on the ground, including parked aircraft and the aerodrome facilities and services;

‘aeronautical data’ means a representation of aeronautical facts, concepts or instructions in a formalised manner suitable for communication, interpretation or processing;

‘aeronautical database’ means a collection of aeronautical data organised and arranged as a structured data set, stored electronically on systems, which is valid for a dedicated period and may be updated;

‘aeronautical fixed service (AFS)’ means a telecommunication service between specified fixed points provided primarily for the safety of air navigation and for the regular, efficient and economical operation of air services;

‘aeronautical fixed telecommunication network (AFTN)’ means a worldwide system of aeronautical fixed circuits provided, as part of the AFS, for the exchange of messages and/or digital data between aeronautical fixed stations having the same or compatible communications characteristics;

‘aeronautical information’ means information resulting from the assembly, analysis and formatting of aeronautical data;

‘aerodrome mapping data’ means data collected for the purpose of compiling aerodrome mapping information;

‘aerodrome mapping database (AMDB)’ means a collection of aerodrome mapping data organised and arranged as a structured data set;

‘aeronautical meteorological station’ means a station making observations and meteorological reports for use in air navigation;

‘air-report’ means a report from an aircraft in flight prepared in conformity with the requirements for position and operational and/or meteorological reporting;

‘aircraft’ means any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from the reactions of the air other than the reactions of the air against the earth's surface;

‘AIRMET’ means information issued by a meteorological watch office concerning the occurrence or expected occurrence of specified en-route weather phenomena which may affect the safety of low-level aircraft operations and of the development of those phenomena in time and space, and which was not already included in the forecast issued for low-level flights in the flight information region concerned or sub-area thereof;

‘air traffic safety electronics personnel (ATSEP)’ means any authorised personnel who are competent to operate, maintain, release from, and return into operations equipment of the functional system;

‘air traffic services unit’ is a generic term meaning variously air traffic control unit, flight information centre, aerodrome flight information service unit or air traffic services reporting office;

‘alternate aerodrome’ means an aerodrome to which an aircraft may proceed when it becomes either impossible or inadvisable to proceed to or to land at the aerodrome of intended landing where the necessary services and facilities are available, where aircraft performance requirements can be met and which is operational at the expected time of use;

‘alternative means of compliance (AltMOC)’ means those means of compliance that propose an alternative to an existing AMC or those that propose new means to establish compliance with Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 and its Implementing Rules for which no associated AMC have been adopted by the Agency;

‘altitude’ means the vertical distance of a level, a point, or an object considered as a point, measured from mean sea level;

‘area control centre (ACC)’ means a unit established to provide air traffic control service to controlled flights in control areas under its jurisdiction;

‘area forecast for low-level flights’ means a forecast of weather phenomena for a flight information region or sub-area thereof, issued to cover the layer below flight level 100 (or below flight level 150 in mountainous areas, or higher, where necessary);

‘area navigation (RNAV)’ means a method of navigation which permits aircraft operation on any desired flight path within the coverage of ground- or space-based navigation aids or within the limits of the capability of self-contained aids, or a combination of them;

‘argument’ means a claim that is supported via inferences by a body of evidence;

‘ASHTAM’ means a special series of NOTAM notifying by means of a specific format of a change in the activity of a volcano, a volcanic eruption and/or volcanic ash cloud that is of significance to aircraft operations;

‘ATM network functions’ means the functions performed by the Network Manager in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 677/2011;

‘ATM/ANS equipment’ means ATM/ANS constituents as defined in Article 3(6) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, and ATM/ANS systems as defined in Article 3(7) of that Regulation, excluding airborne constituents, which are subject to Commission Regulation (EU) No 748/2012 ( 2 );

‘audit’ means a systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining evidence and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which requirements are complied with;

‘authoritative source’ means:

‘automatic observing system’ means an observing system that measures, derives and reports all required elements without human interaction;

‘aviation undertaking’ means an entity, person or organisation, other than the service providers regulated by this Regulation, that is affected by or affects a service delivered by a service provider;

‘boundary’ means a lateral or vertical plane delineating the airspace in which an ATC unit provides air traffic services;

‘break’ means a period of time within the duty period when an air traffic controller is not required to perform duties, for recuperation purposes;

‘certified aircraft application’ means a software application approved by the Agency as part of aircraft subject to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008;

‘cloud of operational significance’ means a cloud with the height of cloud base below 5 000 ft or below the highest minimum sector altitude, whichever is greater, or a cumulonimbus cloud or a towering cumulus cloud at any height;

‘commercial air transport’ means any aircraft operation involving the transport of passengers, cargo or mail for remuneration or other valuable consideration;

‘conventional navigation route’ means an ATS route established by reference to ground navigation aids;

‘control area’ means a controlled airspace extending upwards from a specified limit above the earth;

‘coordination data’ means data of interest to operational staff in connection with the process of notification, coordination and transfer of flights, and with the process of civil-military coordination;

‘coordination point’ (COP) means a point on or adjacent to the boundary used by the ATC units and referred to in coordination processes;

‘critical incident stress’ means the manifestation of unusual and/or extreme emotional, physical and/or behavioural reactions of an individual following an event or incident;

‘data link service’ means a set of related air traffic management transactions, supported by air-ground data link communications, which have a clearly defined operational goal and begin and end on an operational event;

‘data quality’ means a degree or level of confidence that the provided data meets the user's data requirements in terms of accuracy, resolution, integrity (or equivalent assurance level), traceability, timeliness, completeness, and format;

‘data quality requirements (DQRs)’ means a specification of the characteristics of data (i.e. accuracy, resolution, integrity (or equivalent assurance level), traceability, timeliness, completeness and format) to ensure that the data is compatible with its intended use;

‘destination alternate’ means an alternate aerodrome at which an aircraft would be able to land should it become either impossible or inadvisable to land at the aerodrome of intended landing;

‘duty’ means any task that an air traffic controller is required to perform by the air traffic control service provider;

‘duty period’ means a period which starts when an air traffic controller is required by the air traffic control service provider to report for or be available for or to commence duty and ends when the air traffic controller is free from duty;

‘elevation’ means the vertical distance of a point or a level, on or affixed to the surface of the earth, measured from mean sea level;

‘eligible interrogator code’ means any code among the II codes and the SI codes, except:

‘en-route alternate’ means an alternate aerodrome at which an aircraft would be able to land in the event that a diversion becomes necessary while en-route;

‘estimate data’ means the coordination point, the estimated time of an aircraft and the expected flight level of the aircraft at the coordination point;

‘fatigue’ means a physiological state of reduced mental or physical performance capability resulting from sleep loss or extended wakefulness, circadian phase or workload (mental or physical activity, or both) that can impair an individual's alertness and ability to safely perform his/her tasks;

‘flight documentation’ means documents, including charts or forms, containing meteorological information for a flight;

‘flight information centre (FIC)’ means a unit established to provide flight information service and alerting service;

‘flight information region (FIR)’ means an airspace of defined dimensions within which flight information service and alerting service are provided;

‘flight level (FL)’ means a surface of constant atmospheric pressure which is related to a specific pressure datum, 1 013,2 hectopascals (hPa), and is separated from other such surfaces by specific pressure intervals;

‘flight test’ means a flight for the development phase of a new design (aircraft, propulsion systems, parts and appliances), a flight to demonstrate compliance to certification basis or to type design for aircraft coming from the production line, a flight intended to experiment new design concepts, requiring unconventional manoeuvres or profiles for which it could be possible to exit the already approved envelope of the aircraft or a training flight to perform either of those flights;

‘forecast’ means a statement of expected meteorological conditions for a specified time or period, and for a specified area or portion of airspace;

‘forecast for take-off’ means a forecast for a specified period of time, prepared by an aerodrome meteorological office, which contains information on expected conditions over the runways complex in regard to surface wind direction and speed and any variations thereof, temperature, pressure (QNH) and any other element as agreed locally;

‘functional system’ means a combination of procedures, human resources and equipment, including hardware and software, organised to perform a function within the context of ATM/ANS and other ATM network functions;

‘general aviation’ means any civil aircraft operation other than aerial work or commercial air transport;

‘grid point data in digital form’ means computer-processed meteorological data for a set of regularly spaced points on a chart, for transmission from a meteorological computer to another computer in a code form suitable for automated use;

‘guidance material’ means non-binding material developed by the Agency that helps to illustrate the meaning of a requirement or specification and is used to support the interpretation of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008, its implementing rules and AMC;

‘gridded global forecasts’ means forecasts of expected values of meteorological elements on a global grid with a defined vertical and horizontal resolution;

‘hazard’ means any condition, event, or circumstance which could induce a harmful effect;

‘height’ means the vertical distance of a level, a point or an object considered as a point, measured from a specified datum;

‘implementation sequence’ means the time-bounded sequence of implementation of interrogator code allocations with which Mode S operators need to comply to avoid temporary interrogator code conflicts;

‘level’ is a generic term relating to the vertical position of an aircraft in flight and meaning variously height, altitude or flight level;

‘local routine report’ means a meteorological report issued at fixed time intervals, intended only for dissemination at the aerodrome of origin where the observations were made;

‘local special report’ means a meteorological report issued in accordance with the criteria established for special observations, intended only for dissemination at the aerodrome of origin where the observations were made;

‘meteorological bulletin’ means a text comprising meteorological information preceded by an appropriate heading;

‘meteorological information’ means meteorological report, analysis, forecast, and any other statement relating to existing or expected meteorological conditions;

‘meteorological observation’ means the measurement and/or evaluation of one or more meteorological elements;

‘meteorological report’ means a statement of observed meteorological conditions related to a specified time and location;

‘meteorological satellite’ means an artificial Earth satellite making meteorological observations and transmitting these observations to Earth;

‘meteorological watch office (MWO)’ means an office monitoring meteorological conditions affecting flight operations and providing information concerning the occurrence or expected occurrence of specified en-route weather and other phenomena in the atmosphere which may affect the safety of aircraft operations within its specified area of responsibility;

‘minimum sector altitude (MSA)’ means the lowest altitude which may be used which will provide a minimum clearance of 300 m (1 000  ft) above all objects located in an area contained within a sector of a circle of 46 km (25 NM) radius centred on a significant point, the aerodrome reference point (ARP) or the heliport reference point (HRP);

‘NOTAM’ means a notice distributed by means of telecommunication containing information concerning the establishment, condition, or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure, or hazard, the timely knowledge of which is essential to personnel concerned with flight operations;

‘notified unit’ means the ATC unit that has received the notification information;

‘obstacle’ means all fixed (whether temporary or permanent) and mobile objects, or parts thereof, that:

‘OPMET’ means operational meteorological information for use in preparatory or in-flight planning of flight operations;

‘OPMET databank’ means a databank established to store and make available internationally operational meteorological information for aeronautical use;

‘pre-eruption volcanic activity’ means an unusual and/or increasing volcanic activity which could presage a volcanic eruption;

‘prevailing visibility’ means the greatest visibility value, observed in accordance with the definition of ‘visibility’, which is reached within at least half the horizon circle or within at least half of the surface of the aerodrome. These areas could comprise contiguous or non-contiguous sectors;

‘problematic use of psychoactive substances’ means the use of one or more psychoactive substances by an individual, in a way that:

‘prognostic chart’ means a forecast of (a) specified meteorological element(s) for a specified time or period and a specified surface or portion of airspace, depicted graphically on a chart;

‘psychoactive substances’ means alcohol, opioids, cannabinoids, sedatives and hypnotics, cocaine, other psychostimulants, hallucinogens, and volatile solvents, whereas caffeine and tobacco are excluded;

‘receiving unit’ means the air traffic control unit that receives data;

‘rescue coordination centre (RCC)’ means a unit responsible for promoting efficient organisation of search and rescue services, and for coordinating the conduct of search and rescue operations within a search and rescue region;

‘rest period’ means a continuous and defined period of time, subsequent to and/or prior to duty, during which an air traffic controller is free of all duties;

‘rostering system’ means the structure of duty and rest periods of air traffic controllers in accordance with legal and operational requirements;

‘risk’ means the combination of the overall probability or frequency of occurrence of a harmful effect induced by a hazard and the severity of that effect;

‘runway’ means a defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft;

‘runway visual range (RVR)’ means the range over which the pilot of an aircraft on the centre line of a runway can see the runway surface markings or the lights delineating the runway or identifying its centre line;

‘safety directive’ means a document issued or adopted by a competent authority which:

‘safety management system (SMS)’ means a systematic approach to managing safety, including the necessary organisational structures, accountabilities, policies, and procedures;

‘search and rescue services unit’ is a generic term covering, as the case may be, rescue coordination centre, rescue sub-centre or alerting post;

‘semi-automatic observing system’ means an observing system that allows the augmentation of measured elements and requires a human in the loop for issuing the appropriate reports;

‘SIGMET’ means information, issued by a meteorological watch office, concerning the occurrence or expected occurrence of specified en-route weather and other phenomena in the atmosphere which may affect the safety of aircraft operations and of the development of those phenomena in time and space;

‘special air-report’ means a meteorological report by an aircraft issued in accordance with the criteria based on observations made during the flight;

‘stress’ means the outcomes experienced by an individual when faced with a potential cause (‘stressor’) of human performance modification. The experience of the stressor may impact the individual's performance negatively (distress), neutrally or positively (eustress), based on the individual's perception of his/her ability to manage the stressor;

‘system and equipment rating training’ means training designed to impart specific system/equipment knowledge and skills leading towards operational competence;

‘tailored data’ means aeronautical data which is provided by the aircraft operator or DAT provider on the aircraft operator's behalf and produced for this aircraft operator for its intended operational use;

‘take-off alternate aerodrome’ means an alternate aerodrome at which an aircraft would be able to land should this become necessary shortly after take-off and if it is not possible to use the aerodrome of departure;

‘terminal aerodrome forecast (TAF)’ means a concise statement of the expected meteorological conditions at an aerodrome for a specified period;

‘terrain’ means the surface of the Earth containing naturally occurring features such as mountains, hills, ridges, valleys, bodies of water, permanent ice and snow, and excluding obstacles;

‘threshold’ means the beginning of that portion of the runway usable for landing;

‘touchdown zone’ means the portion of a runway, beyond the threshold, where it is intended that landing aeroplanes first contact the runway;

‘tropical cyclone’ is a generic term for a non-frontal synoptic-scale cyclone originating over tropical or subtropical waters with organised convection and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation;

‘tropical cyclone advisory centre (TCAC)’ means a meteorological centre providing advisory information to meteorological watch offices, world area forecast centres and international OPMET databanks regarding the position, forecast direction and speed of movement, central pressure and maximum surface wind of tropical cyclones;

‘visibility’ means visibility for aeronautical purposes, which is the greater of:

‘volcanic ash advisory centre (VAAC)’ means a meteorological centre that provides advisory information to meteorological watch offices, area control centres, flight information centres, world area forecast centres and international OPMET databanks regarding the lateral and vertical extent and forecast movement of volcanic ash in the atmosphere;

‘working position’ means the furniture and technical equipment at which a member of the air traffic services staff undertakes task associated with their job;

‘warning’ means a message displayed at a working position when the automated coordination process has failed;

‘world area forecast centre (WAFC)’ means a meteorological centre preparing and issuing significant weather (SIGWX) forecasts and upper-air forecasts in digital form on a global basis direct to the Member States as part of the aeronautical fixed service (AFS) internet-based services;

‘world area forecast system (WAFS)’ means a worldwide system by which world area forecast centres provide aeronautical meteorological en-route forecasts in uniform standardised formats;

‘aerodrome control tower’ means a unit established to provide air traffic control service to aerodrome traffic;

‘aerodrome traffic’ means all traffic on the manoeuvring area of an aerodrome and all aircraft flying in the vicinity of an aerodrome. An aircraft operating in the vicinity of an aerodrome includes but is not limited to aircraft entering or leaving an aerodrome traffic circuit;

‘aerodrome traffic circuit’ means the specified path to be flown by aircraft operating in the vicinity of an aerodrome;

‘aeronautical fixed station’ means a station in the aeronautical fixed service;

‘aeronautical ground light’ means any light specially provided as an aid to air navigation, other than a light displayed on an aircraft;

‘aeronautical information circular (AIC)’ means a notice containing information that does not qualify for the origination of a NOTAM or for inclusion in the aeronautical information publication, but which relates to flight safety, air navigation, technical, administrative or legislative matters;

‘aeronautical information management (AIM)’ means the dynamic, integrated management of aeronautical information through the provision and exchange of quality-assured digital aeronautical data in collaboration with all parties;

‘aeronautical information product’ means aeronautical data and aeronautical information provided either as digital data sets or as a standardised presentation in paper or electronic media. Aeronautical information products include:

‘aeronautical information publication (AIP)’ means a publication issued by or with the authority of a State and containing aeronautical information of a lasting character essential to air navigation;

‘AIP amendment’ means a permanent change to the information contained in the AIP;

‘AIP supplement’ means a temporary change to the information contained in the AIP, which is provided by means of special pages;

‘aeronautical information regulation and control’ (AIRAC) means a system aimed at advance notification, based on common effective dates, of circumstances that necessitate significant changes in operating practices;

‘aeronautical mobile service’ means a mobile service between aeronautical stations and aircraft stations, or between aircraft stations, in which survival craft stations may participate; emergency position-indicating radio beacon stations may also participate in this service on designated distress and emergency frequencies;

‘aeronautical station’ means a land station in the aeronautical mobile service. In certain instances, an aeronautical station may be located, for example, on board a ship or on a platform at sea;

‘aeronautical telecommunication station’ means a station in a telecommunication service provided for any aeronautical purpose;

‘AFIS aerodrome’ means an aerodrome where AFIS is provided within the airspace associated with such aerodrome;

‘AFIS unit’ means a unit established to provide AFIS and alerting service;

‘aircraft identification’ means a group of letters, figures or a combination thereof which is either identical to, or the coded equivalent of, the aircraft call sign to be used in air-ground communications, and which is used to identify the aircraft in ground-ground air traffic service communications;

‘air-ground communication’ means two-way communication between aircraft and stations or locations on the surface of the earth;

‘air traffic advisory service’ means a service provided within an airspace of defined dimensions, or a designated route (advisory airspace) to ensure separation, in so far as practical, between aircraft which are operating on instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plans;

‘air traffic control clearance’ or ‘ATC clearance’ means authorisation for an aircraft to proceed under conditions specified by an air traffic control unit;

‘air traffic control instruction’ or ‘ATC instruction’ means directives issued by ATC for the purpose of requiring a pilot to take a specific action;

‘air traffic control (ATC) unit’ or ‘ATC unit’ is a generic term meaning variously, area control centre, approach control unit or aerodrome control tower;

‘ALERFA’ is the code word used to designate an alert phase;

‘alerting service’ means a service provided to notify appropriate organisations regarding aircraft in need of search and rescue aid, and assist such organisations as required;

‘alert phase’ means a situation wherein apprehension exists as to the safety of an aircraft and its occupants;

‘approach control unit’ means a unit established to provide air traffic control service to controlled flights arriving at, or departing from, one or more aerodromes;

‘area navigation route’ means an ATS route established for the use of aircraft capable of employing area navigation;

‘assemble’ means a process of merging data from multiple sources into a database and establishing a baseline for subsequent processing;

‘ATS route’ means a specified route designed for channelling the flow of traffic as necessary for the provision of ATS;

‘ATS surveillance service’ means a service provided directly by means of an ATS surveillance system;

‘ATS surveillance system’ means a generic term meaning variously, ADS-B, PSR, SSR or any comparable ground-based system that enables the identification of aircraft;

‘automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B)’ means a means by which aircraft, aerodrome vehicles and other objects can automatically transmit or receive, or transmit and receive data such as identification, position and additional data, as appropriate, in a broadcast mode via a data link;

‘automatic dependent surveillance – contract (ADS-C)’ means a means by which the terms of an ADS-C agreement will be exchanged between the ground system and the aircraft, via a data link, specifying under what conditions ADS-C reports would be initiated, and what data would be contained in the reports;

‘automatic terminal information service (ATIS)’ means the automatic provision of current, routine information to arriving and departing aircraft throughout 24 hours a day or a specified portion thereof;

‘data link-automatic terminal information service (D-ATIS)’ means the provision of ATIS via data link;

‘voice-automatic terminal information service (Voice-ATIS)’ means the provision of ATIS by means of continuous and repetitive voice broadcasts;

‘broadcast’ means a transmission of information relating to air navigation that is not addressed to a specific station or stations;

‘ceiling’ means the height above the ground or water of the base of the lowest layer of cloud below 6 000 m (20 000 ft) covering more than half of the sky;

‘clearance limit’ means the point to which an aircraft is granted an ATC clearance;

‘cloud base’ means the height of the base of the lowest observed or forecast cloud element in the vicinity of an aerodrome or operating site or within a specified area of operations, normally measured above aerodrome elevation or, in the case of offshore operations, above mean sea level;

‘completeness’ means, in relation to data, the degree of confidence that all data needed to support the intended use is provided;

‘confidence level’ means the probability that the true value of a parameter is within a certain interval around the estimate of its value;

‘conference communications’ means communication facilities whereby direct speech conversation may be conducted between three or more locations simultaneously;

‘control zone’ means a controlled airspace extending upwards from the surface of the Earth to a specified upper limit;

‘controlled aerodrome’ means an aerodrome at which air traffic control service is provided to aerodrome traffic;

‘controlled airspace’ means an airspace of defined dimensions within which air traffic control service is provided in accordance with the airspace classification;

‘controlled flight’ means any flight which is subject to an ATC clearance;

‘controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC)’ means a means of communication between air traffic controller and pilot, using data link for ATC communications;

‘critical area’ means an area of defined dimensions extending around the ground equipment of a precision instrument approach within which the presence of vehicles or aircraft will cause unacceptable disturbance of the guidance signals;

‘cruising level’ means a level maintained during a significant portion of a flight;

‘cyclic redundancy check (CRC)’ means a mathematical algorithm applied to the digital expression of data that provides a level of assurance against loss or alteration of data;

‘danger area’ means an airspace of defined dimensions within which activities dangerous to the flight of aircraft may exist at specified times;

‘data accuracy’ means a degree of conformance between the estimated or measured value and the true value;

‘data collection surface’ means a defined surface intended for the purpose of collecting obstacle or terrain data;

‘data integrity’ means a degree of assurance that aeronautical data and its value has not been lost or altered since the data origination or authorised amendment;

‘data item’ means a single attribute of a complete data set, which is allocated a value that defines its current status;

‘data link communications’ means a form of communication intended for the exchange of messages via a data link;

‘data link-VOLMET (D-VOLMET)’ means the provision of aerodrome routine meteorological report (METAR), aerodrome special meteorological report (SPECI), TAF, SIGMET, special air-reports not covered by a SIGMET and, where available, AIRMET via data link;

‘data origination’ means the creation of a new data item with its associated value, the modification of the value of an existing data item or the deletion of an existing data item;

‘data product specification’ means a detailed description of a data set or a collection of data sets together with additional information that will enable it to be created, supplied to and used by another party;

‘data set’ means an identifiable collection of data;

‘datum’ means any quantity or set of quantities that may serve as a reference or basis for the calculation of other quantities;

‘DETRESFA’ is the code word used to designate a distress phase;

‘distress phase’ means a situation wherein there is reasonable certainty that an aircraft and its occupants are threatened by grave and imminent danger or require immediate assistance;

‘downstream clearance’ means a clearance issued to an aircraft by an air traffic control unit that is not the current controlling authority of that aircraft;

‘essential traffic’ means controlled traffic to which the provision of separation by air traffic control service is applicable, but which, in relation to a particular controlled flight is not, or will not be, separated from other controlled traffic by the appropriate separation minimum;

‘essential local traffic’ means any aircraft, vehicle or personnel on or near the manoeuvring area, or traffic in the take-off and climb-out area or the final approach area, which may constitute a hazard to the aircraft concerned;

‘estimated time of arrival’ means:

‘feature’ means an abstraction of real world phenomena;

‘feature attribute’ means a characteristic of a feature that has a name, a data type and a value domain associated with it;

‘feature type’ means a class of real world phenomena with common properties, which forms the basic level of classification in a feature catalogue;

‘final approach’ means that part of an instrument approach procedure which:

‘flight information zone’ means an airspace of defined dimension within which aerodrome flight information service and alerting service for aerodrome traffic are provided;

‘flight procedure design services’ means services for the design, documentation, validation, maintenance and periodic review of flight procedures necessary for the safety, regularity and efficiency of air navigation;

‘flight procedure designer’ means a qualified person who performs design, documentation, validation, continuous maintenance, and periodic review of flight procedures;

‘flight procedure’ means a set of predetermined flight manoeuvres intended to be followed by a pilot, published by electronic, printed or digital means, or both. Flight procedure is conducted either in accordance with instrument flight rules (IFR) or visual flight rules (VFR);

‘flight plan’ means specified information provided to air traffic services units, relative to an intended flight or portion of a flight of an aircraft;

‘flight visibility’ means the visibility forward from the cockpit of an aircraft in flight;

‘format’ means, in relation to data, a structure of data items, records and files arranged to meet standards, specifications or data quality requirements;

‘geoid’ means the equipotential surface in the gravity field of the Earth which coincides with the undisturbed mean sea level (MSL) extended continuously through the continents;

‘geoid undulation’ means the distance of the geoid above (positive) or below (negative) the mathematical reference ellipsoid;

‘glide path’ means a descent profile determined for vertical guidance during a final approach;

‘ground visibility’ means the visibility at an aerodrome, as reported by an accredited observer or by automatic systems;

‘heading’ means the direction in which the longitudinal axis of an aircraft is pointed, usually expressed in degrees from North (true, magnetic, compass or grid);

‘heliport’ means an aerodrome or a defined area on a structure intended to be used wholly or in part for the arrival, departure and surface movement of helicopters;

‘integrity classification’ means, in relation to aeronautical data, a classification based upon the potential risk resulting from the use of corrupted data, defining routine, essential and critical data;

‘international NOTAM office (NOF)’ means an office designated by a Member State for the exchange of NOTAM internationally;

‘holding fix’ means a geographical location that serves as a reference for a holding procedure;

‘holding procedure’ means a predetermined manoeuvre which keeps an aircraft within a specified airspace while awaiting further clearance;

‘identification’ means the situation which exists when the position indication of a particular aircraft is seen on a situation display and positively identified;

‘instrument flight rules’ are rules which allow an aircraft which is equipped with suitable navigation equipment appropriate to the route to be flown in accordance with the applicable requirements on air operations.

‘INCERFA’ is the code word used to designate an uncertainty phase;

‘instrument approach operations’ means an approach and landing using instruments for navigation guidance based on an instrument approach procedure. There are two methods for executing instrument approach operations:

‘instrument approach procedure (IAP)’ means a series of predetermined manoeuvres by reference to flight instruments with specified protection from obstacles from the initial approach fix, or where applicable, from the beginning of a defined arrival route to a point from which a landing can be completed and thereafter, if a landing is not completed, to a position at which holding or en-route obstacle clearance criteria apply. Instrument approach procedures are classified as follows:

‘instrument meteorological conditions (IMC)’ means meteorological conditions expressed in terms of visibility, distance from cloud, and ceiling, less than the minima specified for visual meteorological conditions;

‘low-visibility operations (LVOs)’ means approach or take-off operations on a runway with a runway visual range (RVR) of less than 550 m or with a decision height (DH) of less than 200 ft;

‘low-visibility procedures’ means procedures applied at an aerodrome for the purpose of ensuring safety during low-visibility operations;

‘manoeuvring area’ means that part of an aerodrome to be used for the take-off, landing and taxiing of aircraft, excluding aprons;

‘metadata’ means data about data;

‘movement area’ means that part of an aerodrome to be used for the take-off, landing and taxiing of aircraft, consisting of the manoeuvring area and the apron;

‘navigation aid’ means a facility or system external to the aircraft, which generates electro-magnetic signals to be used by aircraft navigation systems for position determination or flight path guidance;

‘mode Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR)’ means the conventional identifier related to specific functions of the interrogation signals transmitted by an SSR interrogator. There are four modes specified in ICAO Annex 10: A, C, S and intermode;

‘near-parallel runways’ means non-intersecting runways whose extended centre lines have an angle of convergence/divergence of 15 degrees or less;

‘operation with operational credits’ means an operation using specific aircraft or ground equipment, or a combination of aircraft and ground equipment which allows any of the following elements:

‘pilot-in-command’ means the pilot designated by the operator, or in the case of General Aviation, the owner, as being in command and charged with the safe conduct of a flight;

‘position’ means, in a geographical context, a set of coordinates (latitude and longitude) referenced to the mathematical reference ellipsoid, which define the position of a point on the surface of the Earth;

‘position indication’ means the visual indication, in non-symbolic or symbolic form, or both, on a situation display, of the position of an aircraft, aerodrome vehicle or other object;

‘pressure-altitude’ means an atmospheric pressure expressed in terms of altitude which corresponds to that pressure in the Standard Atmosphere;

‘primary radar’ means a radar system which uses reflected radio signals;

‘printed communications’ means communications which automatically provide a permanent printed record at each terminal of a circuit of all messages which pass over such circuit;

‘prohibited area’ means an airspace of defined dimensions, above the land areas or territorial waters of a Member State, within which the flight of aircraft is prohibited;

‘radio navigation service’ means a service providing guidance information or position data for the efficient and safe operation of aircraft supported by one or more radio navigation aids;

‘radiotelephony’ means a form of radio communication primarily intended for the exchange of information in the form of speech;

‘required communication performance specification’ or ‘RCP specification’ means a set of requirements for air traffic service provision and associated ground equipment, aircraft capability, and operations needed to support performance-based communication;

‘required surveillance performance specification’ or ‘RSP specification’ means a set of requirements for air traffic service provision and associated ground equipment, aircraft capability, and operations needed to support performance-based surveillance;

‘resolution’ means, in relation to data, a number of units or digits to which a measured or calculated value is expressed and used;

‘restricted area’ means an airspace of defined dimensions, above the land areas or territorial waters of a Member State, within which the flight of aircraft is restricted in accordance with certain specified conditions;

‘route stage’ means a route or portion of a route flown without an intermediate landing;

‘runway-in-use’ means the runway or runways that, at a particular time, are considered by the air traffic services unit to be the most suitable for use by the types of aircraft expected to land or take off at the aerodrome. Separate or multiple runways may be designated runway-in-use for arriving aircraft and departing aircraft;

‘secondary radar’ means a radar system wherein a radio signal transmitted from the radar station initiates the transmission of a radio signal from another station;

‘secondary surveillance radar (SSR)’ means a surveillance radar system which uses transmitters and receivers (interrogators) and transponders;

‘sensitive area’ means an area extending beyond the critical area where the parking or movement of aircraft or vehicles will affect the guidance signal to the extent that it may be rendered as an unacceptable disturbance to aircraft using the signal;

‘SNOWTAM’ means a special series NOTAM given in a standard format, which provides a surface condition report notifying the presence or cessation of hazardous conditions due to snow, ice, slush, frost, standing water or water associated with snow, slush, ice, or frost on the movement area;

‘significant point’ means a specified geographical location used in defining an ATS route or the flight path of an aircraft and for other navigation and air traffic services purposes;

‘situation display’ means an electronic display depicting the position and movement of aircraft and other information as required;

‘standard instrument arrival (STAR)’ means a designated IFR arrival route that links a significant point, normally on an ATS route, with a point from which a published instrument approach procedure can be commenced;

‘standard instrument departure (SID)’ means a designated IFR departure route that links the aerodrome or a specified runway of the aerodrome with a specified significant point, normally on a designated ATS route, at which the en-route phase of a flight commences;

‘special VFR flight’ means a VFR flight cleared by ATC to operate within a control zone in meteorological conditions below VMC;

‘taxiing’ means movement of an aircraft on the surface of an aerodrome or an operating site under its own power, excluding take-off and landing;

‘taxiway’ means a defined path on a land aerodrome established for the taxiing of aircraft and intended to provide a link between one part of the aerodrome and another;

‘terminal control area (TMA)’ means a control area normally established at the confluence of ATS routes in the vicinity of one or more major aerodromes;

‘timeliness’ means, in relation to data, the degree of confidence that the data is applicable to the period of its intended use;

‘traceability’ means, in relation to data, the degree to which a system or a data product can provide a record of the changes made to that product and thereby enable an audit trail to be followed from the end-user to the party originating data;

‘track’ means the projection on the Earth’s surface of the path of an aircraft, the direction of which path at any point is usually expressed in degrees from North (true, magnetic or grid);

‘traffic information’ means information issued by an air traffic services unit to alert a pilot to other known or observed air traffic which may be in proximity to the position or intended route of flight and to help the pilot avoid a collision;

‘transfer of control point’ means a defined point located along the flight path of an aircraft, at which the responsibility for providing air traffic control service to the aircraft is transferred from one control unit or control position to the next;

‘transferring unit’ means air traffic control unit in the process of transferring the responsibility for providing air traffic control service to an aircraft to the next air traffic control unit or air traffic controller along the route of flight;

‘transition altitude’ means the altitude at or below which the vertical position of an aircraft is controlled by reference to altitudes;

‘transition layer’ means the airspace between the transition altitude and the transition level;

‘transition level’ means the lowest flight level available for use above the transition altitude;

‘validation’ means, in relation to data, the process of ensuring that data meets the requirements for the specified application or intended use;

‘verification’ means, in relation to data, the evaluation of the output of an aeronautical data process to ensure correctness and consistency with respect to the inputs and applicable data standards, rules and conventions used in that process;

‘uncertainty phase’ means a situation wherein uncertainty exists as to the safety of an aircraft and its occupants;

‘unmanned free balloon’ means a non-power-driven, unmanned, lighter-than-air aircraft in free flight;

‘vectoring’ means the provision of navigational guidance to aircraft in the form of specific headings, based on the use of an ATS surveillance system;

‘visual flight rules flight’ or ‘VFR flight’ means a flight conducted in accordance with the visual flight rules;

‘visual approach’ means an approach by an IFR flight when either part or all of an instrument approach procedure is not completed and the approach is executed in visual reference to terrain;

‘visual meteorological conditions (VMC)’ means meteorological conditions expressed in terms of visibility, distance from cloud, and ceiling, equal to or better than specified minima;

‘VOLMET’ means meteorological information for aircraft in flight;

‘VOLMET broadcast’ means the provision, as appropriate, of current METAR, SPECI, TAF and SIGMET by means of continuous and repetitive voice broadcasts;

‘waypoint’ means a specified geographical location used to define an area navigation route or the flight path of an aircraft employing area navigation. Waypoints are identified as either:

‘U-space airspace’ means a UAS geographical zone designated by Member States, where UAS operations are only allowed to take place with the support of U-space services;

‘U-space service’ means a service relying on digital services and automation of functions designed to support safe, secure and efficient access to U-space airspace for a large number of UAS;

‘common information service’ means a service consisting in dissemination of static and dynamic data to enable the provision of U-space services for the management of traffic of unmanned aircraft;

‘dynamic airspace reconfiguration’ means the temporary modification of the U-space airspace in order to accommodate short-term changes in manned traffic demand, by adjusting the geographical limits of that U-space airspace;

‘volcano observatory’ means a provider, selected by the competent authority, which observes the activity of a volcano or a group of volcanoes and makes these observations available to an agreed list of aviation recipients;

‘Geography Markup Language (GML)’ means an encoding standard of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC);

‘space weather centre (SWXC)’ means a centre designated to monitor and provide advisory information on space weather phenomena expected to affect high-frequency radio communications, communications via satellite, GNSS-based navigation and surveillance systems and/or pose a radiation risk to aircraft occupants.

The competent authority shall exercise certification, oversight and enforcement tasks in respect of the application of the requirements applicable to service providers, monitor the safe provision of their services and verify that the applicable requirements are met.

The competent authorities shall identify and exercise the responsibilities for certification, oversight and enforcement in a manner which ensures that:

The competent authorities concerned shall regularly review the agreement on the supervision of the service providers providing air navigation services in functional airspace blocks (FABs) that extend across the airspace falling under the responsibility of more than one Member States referred to in Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 550/2004 and, in the case of cross-border provision of air navigation services, the agreement on the mutual recognition of supervisory tasks referred to in Article 2(5) of Regulation (EC) No 550/2004, as well as the practical implementation of those agreements, in particular in the light of achieved safety performance of the service providers under their supervision.

The competent authority shall establish coordination arrangements with other competent authorities for notified changes to functional systems involving service providers under the oversight of the other competent authorities. Those coordination arrangements shall ensure the effective selection and review of those notified changes, in accordance with point ATM/ANS.AR.C.025.

The Agency shall develop acceptable means of compliance (AMC) that may be used to establish compliance with the requirements of this Regulation. When AMC are complied with, the applicable requirements of this Regulation shall be deemed to have been met.

Alternative means of compliance (AltMOC) may be used to establish compliance with the requirements of this Regulation.

The competent authority shall establish a system to consistently evaluate that all AltMOC used by itself or by the service providers under its oversight allow the establishment of compliance with the requirements of this Regulation.

The competent authority shall evaluate all AltMOC proposed by a service provider in accordance with point ATM/ANS.OR.A.020 by analysing the documentation provided and, if considered necessary, conducting an inspection of the service provider.

When the competent authority finds that the AltMOC are sufficient to ensure compliance with the applicable requirements of this Regulation it shall without undue delay:

When the competent authority itself uses AltMOC to achieve compliance with the applicable requirements of this Regulation, it shall:

The competent authority shall provide the Agency with a full description of the AltMOC, including any revisions to procedures that may be relevant, as well as an assessment demonstrating that the applicable requirements of this Regulation are met.

The competent authority shall without undue delay notify the Agency in case of any significant problems with the implementation of the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and the delegated and implementing acts adopted on its basis or of Regulations (EC) No 549/2004, (EC) No 550/2004 and (EC) No 551/2004 applicable to service providers.

Without prejudice to Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 4 ) and its delegated and implementing acts, the competent authority shall provide the Agency with safety-significant information stemming from the occurrence reports stored in its national database in accordance with Article 6(6) of Regulation (EU) No 376/2014, as soon as possible.

Without prejudice to Regulation (EU) No 376/2014, the competent authority shall implement a system to appropriately collect, analyse, and disseminate safety information.

The Agency shall implement a system to appropriately analyse any relevant safety information received from the competent authorities and without undue delay provide to Member States and the Commission, as appropriate, any information, including recommendations or corrective actions to be taken, necessary for them to react in a timely manner to a safety problem involving the service providers.

Upon receiving the information referred to in points (a) and (b), the competent authority shall take adequate measures to address the safety problem, including the issuing of safety directives in accordance with point ATM/ANS.AR.A.030.

Measures taken under point (c) shall immediately be notified to the service providers concerned to comply with them, in accordance with point ATM/ANS.OR.A.060. The competent authority shall also notify those measures to the Agency and, when combined action is required, the other competent authorities concerned.

The competent authority shall issue a safety directive when it has determined the existence of any of the following:

The safety directive shall be forwarded to the ATM/ANS providers concerned and contain, as a minimum, the following information:

The competent authority shall forward a copy of the safety directive to the Agency and any other competent authorities concerned within one month from its issuance.

The competent authority shall verify the compliance of the ATM/ANS providers with the safety directives and with the ATM/ANS equipment directives, as applicable.

The competent authority shall establish and maintain a management system, including, as a minimum, the following elements:

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The competent authority shall, for each field of activity included in the management system, appoint one or more persons with the overall responsibility for the management of the relevant task(s).

The competent authority shall establish procedures for the participation in a mutual exchange of all necessary information and assistance with other competent authorities concerned, whether from within the Member State or in other Member States, including the following information:

A copy of the procedures related to the management system and their amendments shall be made available to the Agency for the purpose of standardisation.

The competent authority may allocate its tasks related to the certification or oversight of service providers under this Regulation, other than the issuance of certificates themselves, to qualified entities. When allocating such tasks, the competent authority shall ensure that it has:

The competent authority shall ensure that the internal audit process and the safety risk management process required by point ATM/ANS.AR.B.001(a)(4) cover all tasks performed on its behalf by the qualified entity.

The competent authority shall have a system in place to identify changes that affect its capability to perform its tasks and discharge its responsibilities under Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and the delegated and implementing acts adopted on the basis thereof. This system shall enable it to take action, as appropriate, to ensure that the management system remains adequate and effective.

The competent authority shall update its management system to reflect any changes to Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and the delegated and implementing acts adopted on the basis thereof, in a timely manner, so as to ensure the effective implementation of its management system.

The competent authority shall notify the Agency of changes affecting its capability to perform its tasks and discharge its responsibilities under Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and the delegated and implementing acts adopted on the basis thereof.

The competent authority shall establish a system of record-keeping providing for adequate storage, accessibility, and reliable traceability of:

The competent authority shall maintain a list of all service provider certificates issued and declarations received.

All records shall be kept for a minimum period of 5 years after the certificate ceases to be valid or the declaration is withdrawn, subject to the applicable data protection law.

The competent authorities shall regularly monitor and assess the safety performance of the service providers under their oversight.

The competent authorities shall use the results of the monitoring of safety performance in particular within their risk-based oversight.

Within the scope of point ATM/ANS.AR.B.001(a)(1), the competent authority shall establish a process in order to verify:

The process referred to in point (a) shall:

The competent authority, or qualified entities acting on its behalf, shall conduct audits, in accordance with Article 5.

The audits referred to in point (a) shall:

The competent authority shall, on the basis of the evidence at its disposal, monitor the continuous compliance with the applicable requirements of this Regulation of the service providers under its oversight.

The competent authority shall establish and update annually an oversight programme taking into account the specific nature of the service providers, the complexity of their activities, the results of past certification and/or oversight activities and shall be based on the assessment of associated risks. It shall include audits, which shall:

The competent authority may decide to modify the objectives and the scope of pre-planned audits, including documentary reviews and additional audits, wherever that need arises.

The competent authority shall decide which arrangements, elements, services, functions, physical locations, and activities are to be audited within a specified time frame.

Audit observations and findings issued in accordance with point ATM/ANS.AR.C.050 shall be documented. The latter shall be supported by evidence, and identified in terms of the applicable requirements and their implementing arrangements against which the audit has been conducted.

An audit report, including the details of the findings and observations, shall be drawn up and communicated to the service provider concerned.

Following the process laid down in point ATM/ANS.AR.C.005(a), upon receiving an application for the issuance of a certificate to a service provider, the competent authority shall verify the service provider's compliance with the applicable requirements of this Regulation.

The competent authority may require any audits, inspections or assessments it finds necessary before issuing the certificate.

The certificate shall be issued for an unlimited duration. The privileges of the activities that the service provider is approved to conduct shall be specified in the service provision conditions attached to the certificate.

The certificate shall not be issued where a level 1 finding remains open. In exceptional circumstances, finding(s), other than level 1, shall be assessed and mitigated as necessary by the service provider and a corrective action plan for closing the finding(s) shall be approved by the competent authority prior to the certificate being issued.

Upon receiving a notification for a change in accordance with point ATM/ANS.OR.A.045, the competent authority shall comply with points ATM/ANS.AR.C.030, ATM/ANS.AR.C.035 and ATM/ANS.AR.C.040.

Upon receiving a notification for a change in accordance with point ATM/ANS.OR.A.040(a)(2) that requires prior approval, the competent authority shall:

To enable a service provider to implement changes to its management system and/or safety management system, as applicable, without prior approval in accordance with point ATM/ANS.OR.A.040 (b), the competent authority shall approve a procedure defining the scope of such changes and describing how such changes will be notified and managed. In the continuous oversight process, the competent authority shall assess the information provided in the notification to verify whether the actions taken comply with the approved procedures and applicable requirements. In case of any non-compliance, the competent authority shall:

The competent authority shall review:

The competent authority shall approve the procedures, modifications and deviations referred to in point (a) when it has determined that they are necessary and sufficient for the service provider to demonstrate compliance with points ATM/ANS.OR.A.045, ATM/ANS.OR.C.005, ATS.OR.205, and ATS.OR.210, as applicable.

Upon receipt of a notification in accordance with point ATM/ANS.OR.A.045(a)(1), or upon receipt of modified information in accordance with point ATM/ANS.OR.A.045(b), the competent authority shall make a decision on whether to review the change or not. The competent authority shall request any additional information needed from the service provider to support this decision.

The competent authority shall determine the need for a review based on specific, valid and documented criteria that, as a minimum, ensure that the notified change is reviewed if the combination of the likelihood of the argument being complex or unfamiliar to the service provider and the severity of the possible consequences of the change is significant.

When the competent authority decides the need for a review based on other risk based criteria in addition to point (b), these criteria shall be specific, valid and documented.

The competent authority shall inform the service provider of its decision to review a notified change to a functional system and provide the associated rationale to the service provider upon request.

When the competent authority reviews the argument for a notified change, it shall:

The competent authority shall, alternatively:

Upon receiving a declaration from a provider of flight information services intending to provide such services, the competent authority shall verify that the declaration contains all the information required by point ATM/ANS.OR.A.015 and shall acknowledge receipt of the declaration to that service provider.

If the declaration does not contain the required information, or contains information that indicates non-compliance with the applicable requirements, the competent authority shall notify the provider of flight information services concerned about the non-compliance and request further information. If necessary, the competent authority shall carry out an audit of the provider of flight information services. If the non-compliance is confirmed, the competent authority shall take action provided for in point ATM/ANS.AR.C.050.

The competent authority shall keep a register of the declarations of providers of flight information services which were made to it in accordance with this Regulation.

The competent authority shall have a system to analyse findings for their safety significance and decide on enforcement measures on the basis of the safety risk posed by the service provider's non-compliance.

In circumstances where no or very low additional safety risk would be present with immediate appropriate mitigation measures, the competent authority may accept the provision of services to ensure continuity of service whilst corrective actions are being taken.

A level 1 finding shall be issued by the competent authority when any serious non-compliance is detected with the applicable requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and the delegated and implementing acts adopted on its basis as well as Regulations (EC) No 549/2004, (EC) No 550/2004 and (EC) No 551/2004 and their implementing rules, with the ATM/ANS provider’s procedures and manuals, with the terms and conditions of the certificate, with the designation act, if applicable, or with the content of a declaration which poses a significant risk to flight safety or otherwise calls into question the service provider’s capability to continue operations.

Level 1 findings shall include but are not limited to:

A level 2 finding shall be issued by the competent authority when any other non-compliance is detected with the applicable requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and the delegated and implementing acts adopted on its basis, as well as Regulations (EC) No 549/2004, (EC) No 550/2004 and (EC) No 551/2004 and their implementing rules, with the ATM/ANS provider’s procedures and manuals or with the terms and conditions of the certificate, or with the content of the declaration.

When a finding is detected, during oversight or by any other means, the competent authority shall, without prejudice to any additional action required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and the delegated and implementing acts adopted on its basis, as well as Regulations (EC) No 549/2004, (EC) No 550/2004, and (EC) No 551/2004 and their implementing rules, communicate the finding to the service provider in writing and require corrective action to address the non-compliance(s) identified.

Where the competent authority detects that the ATM/ANS provider integrates ATM/ANS equipment into its functional system without ensuring compliance with point ATM/ANS.OR.A.045(g), it shall, with due regard to the need to ensure the safety and continuity of operations, take all measures necessary to restrict the area of application of the ATM/ANS equipment concerned or prohibit its use by the ATM/ANS providers under its oversight.

For those cases that do not require level 1 and 2 findings, the competent authority may issue observations.

Application for a service provider certificate or an amendment to an existing certificate shall be made in a form and manner established by the competent authority, taking into account the applicable requirements of this Regulation.

In accordance with Article 6, in order to obtain the certificate, the service provider shall comply with:

Notwithstanding point (b), the air traffic services provider may apply for a certificate limited to the provision of services in the airspace under the responsibility of the Member State where its principal place of operation or, if any, registered office is located, when it provides or plans to provide services only with respect to one or more of the following categories:

In addition, the following air navigation service providers may also apply for a limited certificate:

As determined by the competent authority, an air navigation service provider applying for a limited certificate in accordance with points (a) or (b)(1) shall comply, as a minimum, with the following requirements set out in:

As determined by the competent authority, the air navigation service provider applying for a limited certificate in accordance with point (b)(2) shall comply, as a minimum, with the requirements set out in points (c)(1) to (c)(4) and with the specific requirements set out in Annex IV.

An applicant for a limited certificate shall submit an application to the competent authority in a form and manner established by the competent authority.

Pursuant to Article 7, a flight information services provider may declare its capability and means of discharging the responsibilities associated with the services provided where it meets, in addition to the requirements referred to in Article 8b(1) of Regulation (EU) No 216/2008, the following alternative requirements:

A flight information services provider declaring its activities shall:

Before ceasing the provision of its services, the flight information services provider declaring its activities shall notify the competent authority within a period determined by the competent authority.

A flight information services provider declaring its activities shall comply with the following requirements set out in:

A flight information services provider declaring its activities shall only start operation after receiving the acknowledgement of receipt of the declaration from the competent authority.

Alternative means of compliance (AltMOC) to the AMC adopted by the Agency may be used by the service provider to establish compliance with the requirements of this Regulation.

When the service provider wishes to use an AltMOC, it shall, prior to implementing it, provide the competent authority with a full description of the AltMOC. The description shall include any revisions to manuals or procedures that may be relevant, as well as an assessment demonstrating compliance with the requirements of this Regulation.

A service provider may implement these alternative means of compliance subject to prior approval by the competent authority and upon receipt of the notification as prescribed in point ATM/ANS.AR.A.015(d).

A service provider's certificate shall remain valid subject to:

Upon revocation or surrender, the certificate shall be returned to the competent authority without delay.

the flight information services remaining in compliance with the applicable requirements of this Regulation, including those concerning facilitating and cooperating for the purposes of the exercise of the powers of the competent authorities and those concerning the handling of findings as specified in point ATM/ANS.OR.A.050 and ATM/ANS.OR.A.055 respectively;

the declaration not having been withdrawn by the provider of such services or deregistered by the competent authority.

The notification and management of:

Any change as referred to in point (a)(2) shall require prior approval before implementation, unless such a change is notified and managed in accordance with a procedure approved by the competent authority as laid down in point ATM/ANS.AR.C.025(c).

A service provider planning a change to its functional system shall:

Having notified a change, the service provider shall inform the competent authority whenever the information provided in accordance with points (a)(1) and (2) is materially modified, and the relevant service providers and aviation undertakings whenever the information provided in accordance with point (a)(3) is materially modified.

A service provider shall only allow the parts of the change, for which the activities required by the procedures referred to in point ATM/ANS.OR.B.010 have been completed, to enter into operational service.

If the change is subject to competent authority review in accordance with point ATM/ANS.AR.C.035, the service provider shall only allow the parts of the change for which the competent authority has approved the argument to enter into operational service.

When a change affects other service providers and/or aviation undertakings, as identified in point (a)(3), the service provider and these other service providers, in coordination, shall determine:

Those service providers affected by the assumptions and risk mitigations referred to in point (e)(2) shall only use, in their argument for the change, agreed and aligned assumptions and risk mitigations with each other and, where feasible, with aviation undertakings.

Before integrating ATM/ANS equipment into the functional system, the ATM/ANS provider shall ensure that:

The ATM/ANS provider shall ensure that the ATM/ANS equipment has been verified to comply with the equipment manufacturer’s specifications, including installation and on-site test(s).

Before the ATM/ANS provider puts the ATM/ANS equipment into service, it shall ensure that the modified functional system integrating this ATM/ANS equipment meets all the applicable requirements and shall identify all deviations and limitations.

When the ATM/ANS provider puts the ATM/ANS equipment into service, it shall ensure that the ATM/ANS equipment, or the modified one, is deployed according to the conditions of use, as well as to any applicable limitations, and meets all the applicable requirements.

identify the root cause of the non-compliance;

define a corrective action plan that meets the approval by the competent authority;

demonstrate corrective action implementation to the satisfaction of the competent authority within the time period proposed by the service provider and agreed with that authority, as defined in point ATM/ANS.AR.C.050(e).

A service provider shall implement any safety measures, including safety directives, mandated by the competent authority in accordance with point ATM/ANS.AR.A.025(c).

When a safety directive is issued to correct the condition referred to in the statement of compliance issued in accordance with Article 6 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1768, the ATM/ANS provider shall, unless otherwise determined by the competent authority in case urgent action is needed:

As part of its management system, the ATM/ANS provider shall establish and maintain an occurrence-reporting system, including mandatory and voluntary reporting. ATM/ANS providers established in a Member State shall ensure that the system complies with the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, as well as with the delegated and implementing acts adopted on the basis of those regulations.

The ATM/ANS provider shall report to the competent authority and to any other organisation required to be informed by the Member State, where the ATM/ANS provider provides its services, any safety-related event or condition that endangers or, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person, and in particular any accident or serious incident.

Without prejudice to point (b), the ATM/ANS provider shall report to the competent authority and to the organisation responsible for the design and/or maintenance of the ATM/ANS systems and constituents, if different from the ATM/ANS provider, any malfunction, technical defect, exceedance of technical limitations, occurrence, or other irregular circumstance that has or may have endangered the safety of services and has not resulted in an accident or serious incident.

Without prejudice to Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 and the delegated and implementing acts adopted on the basis thereof, reports shall:

For ATM/ANS providers that are not established in a Member State, initial mandatory reports shall:

Without prejudice to Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 and its delegated and implementing acts, where relevant, a follow-up report providing details of actions the organisation intends to take to prevent similar occurrences in the future shall be made as soon as these actions have been identified; those follow-up reports shall:

A service provider shall provide its services in an open and transparent manner. It shall publish the conditions of access to its services and changes thereto and establish a consultation process with the users of its services on a regular basis or as needed for specific changes in service provision, either individually or collectively.

A service provider shall not discriminate on grounds of nationality or other characteristic of the user or the class of users of its services in a manner that is contrary to Union law.

A service provider shall ensure that aeronautical data related to its services is provided in due time to the AIS provider.

When aeronautical data related to its services is published, the service provider shall:

ensure that aeronautical data referred to in Appendix 1 conform to the specifications of the aeronautical data catalogue;

ensure that the following data quality requirements are met:

with regard to data origination, establish specific formal arrangements with the party originating data that contain instructions for data creation, modification or deletion, which include as a minimum:

ensure that data validation and verification techniques are employed to ensure that the aeronautical data meets the associated data quality requirements and in addition:

transmit aeronautical data by electronic means;

establish formal arrangements with:

ensure that the information listed in point AIS.TR.505(a) is provided in due time to the AIS provider;

collect and transmit metadata which include as a minimum:

ensure that tools and software used to support or automate aeronautical data and aeronautical information processes perform their functions without adversely impacting the quality of aeronautical data and aeronautical information;

ensure that digital data error detection techniques are used during the transmission or storage of aeronautical data, or both, in order to support the applicable data integrity levels;

ensure that the transfer of aeronautical data is subject to a suitable authentication process such that recipients are able to confirm that the data has been transmitted by an authorised source;

ensure that errors identified during data origination and after data delivery are addressed, corrected or resolved and that priority is given to managing errors in critical and essential aeronautical data.

the World Geodetic System – 1984 (WGS-84) as the horizontal reference system;

the mean sea level (MSL) datum as the vertical reference system;

the Gregorian calendar and coordinated universal time (UTC) as the temporal reference systems.

A service provider shall implement and maintain a management system that includes:

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A service provider shall document all management system key processes, including a process for making personnel aware of their responsibilities, and the procedure for the amendment of those processes.

A service provider shall establish a function to monitor compliance of its organisation with the applicable requirements and the adequacy of the procedures. Compliance monitoring shall include a feedback system of findings to the accountable manager to ensure effective implementation of corrective actions as necessary.

A service provider shall monitor the behaviour of its functional system and, where underperformance is identified, it shall establish its causes and eliminate them or, after having determined the implication of the underperformance, mitigate its effects.

The management system shall be proportionate to the size of the service provider and the complexity of its activities, taking into account the hazards and associated risks inherent in those activities.

Within its management system, the service provider shall establish formal interfaces with the relevant service providers and aviation undertakings in order to:

In the case that the service provider holds also an aerodrome operator certificate, it shall ensure that the management system covers all activities in the scope of its certificates.

A service provider shall use procedures to manage, assess and, if necessary, mitigate the impact of changes to its functional systems in accordance with points ATM/ANS.OR.A.045, ATM/ANS.OR.C.005, ATS.OR.205 and ATS.OR.210, as applicable.

The procedures referred to in point (a) or any material modifications to those procedures shall:

When the approved procedures referred to in point (b) are not suitable for a particular change, the service provider shall:

Contracted activities include all the activities within the scope of the service provider's operations, in accordance with the terms of the certificate, that are performed by other organisations either themselves certified to carry out such activity or if not certified, working under the service provider's oversight. A service provider shall ensure that when contracting or purchasing any part of its activities to external organisations, the contracted or purchased activity, system or constituent conforms to the applicable requirements.

When a service provider contracts any part of its activities to an organisation that is not itself certified in accordance with this Regulation to carry out such activity, it shall ensure that the contracted organisation works under its oversight. The service provider shall ensure that the competent authority is given access to the contracted organisation to determine continued compliance with the applicable requirements under this Regulation.

A service provider shall appoint an accountable manager, who has the authority over ensuring that all activities can be financed and carried out in accordance with the applicable requirements. The accountable manager shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining an effective management system.

A service provider shall define the authority, duties and responsibilities of the nominated post holders, in particular of the management personnel in charge of safety, quality, security, finance and human resources-related functions as applicable.

A service provider shall establish a system of record-keeping that allows adequate storage of the records and reliable traceability of all its activities, covering in particular all the elements indicated in point ATM/ANS.OR.B.005.

The format and the retention period of the records referred to in point (a) shall be specified in the service provider's management system procedures.

Records shall be stored in a manner that ensures protection against damage, alteration and theft.

A service provider shall provide and keep up to date its operations manuals relating to the provision of its services for the use and guidance of operations personnel.

It shall ensure that:

For any change notified in accordance with point ATM/ANS.OR.A.045(a)(1), the service provider other than the air traffic services provider shall:

A service provider other than an air traffic services provider shall ensure that the safety support assessment referred to in point (a) comprises:

Air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers shall produce a business plan covering a minimum period of five years. The business plan shall:

The information listed in points (i) and (ii) of point (1) shall be aligned with the performance plan referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 and, as far as safety data is concerned, it shall be consistent with the state safety programme referred to in Standard 3.1.1 of Annex 19 to the Chicago Convention in its first edition of July 2013.

Air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers shall provide safety and business justifications for major investment projects including, where relevant, the estimated impact on the appropriate performance targets referred to in point (1)(ii) and identifying investments stemming from the legal requirements associated with the implementation of the Single European Sky ATM Research Programme (SESAR).

Air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers shall produce an annual plan covering the forthcoming year which shall further specify the features of the business plan and describe any changes to it as compared to the previous plan.

The annual plan shall cover the following provisions on the level and quality of service, such as the expected level of capacity, safety, environment and cost-efficiency:

Air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers and the Network Manager shall, as an integral part of their management system as required in point ATM/ANS.OR.B.005, establish a security management system to ensure:

The security management system shall define:

Air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers and the Network Manager shall ensure the security clearance of their personnel, if appropriate, and coordinate with the relevant civil and military authorities to ensure the security of their facilities, personnel and data.

Air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers and the Network Manager shall take the necessary measures to protect their systems, constituents in use and data and prevent compromising the network against information and cyber security threats which may have an unlawful interference with the provision of their service.

Air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers and the Network Manager shall have in place arrangements to cover liabilities related to the execution of their tasks in accordance with the applicable law.

The method employed to provide the cover shall be appropriate to the potential loss and damage in question, taking into account the legal status of the providers concerned and the Network Manager and the level of commercial insurance cover available.

Air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers and the Network Manager which avail themselves of services of another service provider shall ensure that the agreements that they conclude to that effect specify the allocation of liability between them.

Air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers shall provide an annual report of their activities to the competent authority.

For air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers, the annual report shall cover their financial results, without prejudice to Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 550/2004, as well as their operational performance and any other significant activities and developments in particular in the area of safety.

The Network Manager shall provide an annual report of its activities to the Commission and the Agency. This report shall cover its operational performance, as well as significant activities and developments in particular in the area of safety.

The annual reports referred to in points (a) and (c) shall include as a minimum:

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▼B

Air navigation services and air traffic flow management providers and the Network Manager shall make their annual reports available to the Commission and the Agency on their request. They shall also make those reports available to the public, under the conditions set by the competent authority in accordance with Union and national law.