Explanatory note

These Regulations make amendments to legislation in the field of aviation safety.

Part 2 amends Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 to adopt three sets of amendments to Annex 16 (Environmental Protection) of the International Convention on Civil Aviation 1944. These relate to certification of aircraft for noise, certification of engines for emissions, and certification of aeroplanes for carbon dioxide emissions.

Part 3 amends retained direct minor EU legislation. Regulation 3 amends Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 (aircrew) to remove unnecessary transitional measures intended to transition to the Basic Instrument Rating which the UK does not currently intend to adopt.

Regulation 4 makes amendments to Commission Regulation (EU) No 2018/395 in respect of balloon licensing. The amendment in regulation 4(2) allows the holders of national pilot licences for balloons issued after 8th April 2020 to continue to fly Part-21 balloons until 8th December 2023. The amendment in regulation 4(3) allows for training undertaken for the issue of a national licence before 8th December 2023 to be credited towards the issue of a Part-BFCL licence.

Regulation 5 makes amendments to Commission Regulation (EU) No 2018/1976 in respect of sailplane licensing. The amendment in regulation 5(2) allows the holders of national pilot licences for sailplanes issued after 8 April 2020 to continue to fly Part-21 sailplane until 8 December 2023. The amendment in regulation 4(3) allows for training undertaken for the issue of a national licence before 8 December 2023 to be credited towards the issue of a Part-SFCL licence.

Regulation 6 is made in exercise of the power conferred by section 8(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16) in order to address deficiencies (of the kind referred to in section 8(2)(a)) in retained EU law. Regulation 6 amends Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 (operation of unmanned aircraft) to remove redundant commencement provisions which relate to provisions which do not form part of retained EU law.

The provision in regulation 2(b) was subject to a full impact assessment which relied on that conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization’s impact assessment of the same changes and may be found at https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/NPA 2020-06.pdf. A hard copy of the full impact assessment can be obtained by emailing [email protected].

A full impact assessment has not been produced for the other provisions in this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is available alongside this instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.