These Decisions, amending the acceptable means of compliance (AMC) and guidance material (GM) to the annexes to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Air OPS Regulation’), address a regulatory issue related to the rules on air operations. EASA is issuing these Decisions following the outcome of consultations performed in the context of the activities of RMT.0516 & RMT.0517. The specific objectives of the Decisions are to: (a) perform an editorial update of the air operations rules; (b) better identify inspector qualifications; (c) provide operators with more flexibility regarding the location of the emergency medical kit (EMK); (d) address identified safety issues such as passenger (emergency exit) seating and briefing; and (e) address implementation issues related to helicopter sling load operations. The proposed changes are expected to ensure alignment with ICAO. In addition, through said changes, EASA expects to ensure an efficient and proportionate set of implementing rules (IRs) and AMC/GM on air operations and to resolve any inconsistencies identified following the adoption of the Air OPS Regulation, reflecting thus the state of the art and best practices in the fields concerned. The Decisions also introduce new AMC/GM in response to safety recommendations.

The objective of this Decision is to improve the efficiency of the certification process by reorganising CS-23 ‘Certification Specifications for Normal-Category Aeroplanes’. This reorganisation of CS-23 introduces a new concept. The current European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) CS-23 is replaced by objective requirements that are design-independent. These objective requirements, due to their higher level of abstractness, are also suitable for aeroplanes within the scope of the current CS-VLA ‘Certification Specification for Very Light Aircraft’. Therefore, CS-23 Amendment 5 also replaces CS-VLA. This amendment will contain only CSs. The related acceptable means of compliance (AMC) will capture the technical details and, when applicable, provide differentiated AMC for the variety of aeroplane designs within the scope of the new CS-23. This AMC will be annexed to a separate decision. The aim is to incorporate consensus standards into the AMC, which will allow for a faster adoption of new technologies and better up-to-date standards. This improved flexibility is intended to encourage the introduction of safety-enhancing features into new designs and reduce the certification costs for the aeroplanes at stake. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently published Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 14, Part 23, Amendment 64 that introduces a similar reorganisation of Part 23. EASA is of the opinion, expressly supported by stakeholders in European Union (EU) and the United States (US), that a harmonised reorganisation of the related EU and US rules is vital for a global success. Consequently, this Decision not only reflects the outcome of the EASA rulemaking and consultation process for rulemaking task RMT.0498 ‘Reorganisation of Part-23 and CS-23’, but also considers at the same time harmonisation with the above-mentioned FAA document. The amendment is expected to reduce regulatory burden, increase cost-effectiveness and improve global harmonisation.

The objective of this Decision is to amend CS-STAN taking into account efficiency and proportionality. This Decision introduces amendments to CS-STAN: — providing additional clarification in Subpart A ‘General’ regarding the use of CS-STAN; — introducing new standard changes and updating some existing ones; and — introducing new standard repairs and updating some existing ones. The changes introduced by this Decision are based on lessons learnt during the utilisation of CS-STAN, proposals submitted by stakeholders and on technological innovations coming from the industry, which can bring safety benefits or allows implementation of the latest technologies in a cost-efficient manner. These amendments are expected to provide economic benefits to the General Aviation (GA) community by reducing the regulatory burden for the embodiment of changes and repairs in certain aircraft when fulfilling the acceptable methods, techniques and practices included in CS-STAN. These amendments are not expected to have any social or environmental impacts.