*“Who says I can’t fly here?”*
Adapted from Wikimedia Commons media in the Public Domain: Globe, Cessna

1 Introduction

After successfully obtaining an FAA private pilot certificate under Title 14, § 61.75 I tried to figure out what exactly I would be able to do with said license. The most obvious use-case is to fly N-registered aircraft in the United States, for instance along the famous skyline route. The requirements are straighforward, as laid out in CFR Title 14 - a valid medical certificate and a recent flight review.

Using an FAA private pilot certificate to fly an N-registered aircraft in an EASA member-state, however, has recently become more difficult for pilots who are also residents of an EASA member-state.

Note

Note that for reasons of brevity, in the following:
“EU pilot” will refer to a pilot with residence in an EASA member-state.
“EASA license” will refer to any EASA member-state issued license.

2 Regulation

2.1 EU/EASA Regulation

Warning

As of 20. June 2022, EU pilots are required to hold both a valid EASA license and a valid FAA license to fly an N-registered aircraft in EASA member-state airspace.

At the time, general aviation organizations widely reported on this change. For instance, IAOPA Europe and AOPA Luxembourg both posted articles on this change in EU air law.

However, neither article cited the relevant change in EU law. Why pilots were now required to hold two licenses was therefore a bit of a mystery.

Only a 2020 comment on a post by EU Commission expert Jyrki Paajanen in the EASA Community Network finally provided the right hint (emphasis mine):

The exemption that allows Member States to permit EU-based pilots to operate with third country licences is limited to non-commercial operations (See Article 12(4) of Regulation 1178/2011).
— Jyrki Paajanen, comment in the EASA Community Forum

The referenced regulation, which defines the EASA Rules for Air Crew, reads:

(1) This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
(…)
(4) By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States may decide not to apply the provisions of this Regulation until 20 June 2022, to pilots holding a licence and associated medical certificate issued by a third country involved in the non-commercial operation of aircraft as specified in Article 2(1)(b), points (i) or (ii), of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 [EASA Basic Regulation]. Member States shall make those decisions publicly available.
— Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 [EASA Rules for Air Crew] Article 12 (1), (4), as per the last update of this article in 2018

Right - so an excemption (“derogation”) was in place, which ran out in 2022. But what was being excempted? For this, we must dig deeper into air law.

First, the Scope of the EASA Basic Regulation reads:

This Regulation shall apply to (…) operation of aircraft (…) registered in a Member State (…) [or] registered in a third country and operated by an aircraft operator (…) residing (…) in the territory to which the Treaties apply (…)”
— EASA Basic Regulation Article 2(1)(b)

This means that EASA Basic regulation applies, among others, to EU pilots flying N-registered aircraft in the EU.

Second, Article 20 of the EASA Basic regulation states (emphasis mine):

Pilots and cabin crew involved in the operation of aircraft referred to in point (b) of Article 2(1) (…) shall comply with the essential requirements set out in Annex IV.
— EASA Basic Regulation Article 20

Finally, Annex IV defines the requirements for obtaining an EASA member-state license.

Important

This means that non-EU pilots are out of scope of the licensing requirements of the EASA Basic Regulation. This is why only EU pilots are required to hold an EASA license to fly an N-registered aircraft in the EU. By US federal law, they are also required to hold an FAA license to fly an N-registered aircraft anywhere. Hence, they are required to hold both an EASA license and an FAA license.

Of course, the above does not mean that non-EU pilots could simply disregard other parts of EASA regulations, such as the Standardised European Rules of the Air (SERA). This is because these rules apply to:

(…) general air traffic within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 551/2004 [the ICAO EUR and AFI regions]”
— EASA SERA Article 1

2.2 The Chicago Convention

Pilots are required to hold two licenses? “That can’t be right!”.

Some air law enthusiasts have gone so far as to question the legality of recent EASA changes This is because Article 33 of the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention), states (emphasis mine):

(Recognition of Certificates and Licences)
Certificates of airworthiness, certificates of competency and licenses issued or validated by the state in which the aircraft is registered, shall be recognized as valid by other states. The requirements for the issuing of those certificates or airworthiness, certificates of competency or licensees must be equal to or above the minimum standards established by the convention.
— Article 33, 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation

Here, Mr. Jyrki Paajanen again provided valuable insight:

(…) like so much ICAO, we need to remember that it has been written from the viewpoint of international air transport and does not provide a comprehensive aviation rule framework. It is not unusual for ICAO text then to be considered non-applicable for longer term stays or for things that are not about international flights (such as for example the LAPL licence or Basic IR in the EU – neither of which is ICAO compliant). How long is “long term” is again not governed or even mentioned by ICAO.
— Jyrki Paajanen, excerpt from private communication

This says it all - EU pilots flying N-registered aircraft are simply out of scope of the Chicago Convention.

Note

While researching the applicability of the Chicago Convention, I found two interesting scientific publications which provide deep insight and extensive historical treatment of international air law: Dempsey (2008a) and Dempsey (2008b). Of course, for readers with an interest in the philosophical aspects of international air law, a must-read is Sreejith, Srinivasan, and Irani (2023).

2.3 National Legislation

🇩🇪 Aviation Law

German aviation law is collected in the Luftverkehrsgesetz (LuftVG).

Die Benutzung des Luftraums durch Luftfahrzeuge ist frei, soweit sie nicht durch dieses Gesetz, durch die zu seiner Durchführung erlassenen Rechtsvorschriften, durch im Inland anwendbares internationales Recht, durch Rechtsakte der Europäischen Union und die zu deren Durchführung erlassenen Rechtsvorschriften beschränkt wird.
— LuftVG § 1 (1)

Die Berechtigung zum Verkehr im Luftraum der Bundesrepublik Deutschland haben nach Maßgabe des § 1 Abs. 1 (…) Luftfahrzeuge, die außerhalb der Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union oder der anderen Vertragsstaaten des Abkommens über den Europäischen Wirtschaftsraum in einem Register eingetragen sind, auf Grund zwischenstaatlicher Vereinbarung;
— LuftVG § 1c 5

Wer ein Luftfahrzeug führt oder bedient (Luftfahrer) bedarf der Erlaubnis. Die Erlaubnis wird nur erteilt, wenn
(…)
dem Bewerber nicht bereits eine Erlaubnis gleicher Art und gleichen Umfangs nach Maßgabe dieser Vorschrift erteilt worden ist.
— LuftVG § 4

🇦🇹 Aviation Law

Austrian aviation law is collected in the Luftfahrtgesetz (LFG).

Die Benützung des Luftraumes durch Luftfahrzeuge, Luftfahrtgerät, Flugmodelle und unbemannte Luftfahrzeuge im Fluge ist frei, soweit sich aus diesem Bundesgesetz nichts anderes ergibt.
— LFG § 2 “Freiheit des Luftraumes”

Ausländisch registrierte Zivilluftfahrzeuge dürfen im Fluge nur verwendet werden, wenn
1. die von einem anderen Staat erfolgten Bestätigungen der zulässigen Verwendung im Fluge von der Austro Control GmbH (…) durch Bescheid gemäß Abs. 2 anerkannt worden sind, oder
2. die Zulässigkeit der Verwendung im Fluge auf Grund einer zwischenstaatlichen Vereinbarung oder auf Grund von unionsrechtlichen Bestimmungen als anerkannt gilt.
— LFG § 25 “Voraussetzungen für die Verwendung von ausländischen Luftfahrzeugen im Fluge”

Zum zivilen Luftfahrtpersonal gehören alle in der Zivilluftfahrt tätigen Personen, deren Tätigkeit für die Sicherheit der Luftfahrt von Bedeutung ist und flugtechnische oder flugbetriebliche Kenntnisse voraussetzt.
— LFG § 25 “Ziviles Luftfahrtpersonal Begriffsbestimmung”
Zur Ausübung der in § 25 angeführten Tätigkeiten ist eine Erlaubnis der Austro Control GmbH (…) oder der gemäß § 57a zuständigen Behörde [Behörde in einem EASA Mitgliedsstaat] erforderlich.
— LFG § 26 “Ziviles Luftfahrtpersonal Zivilluftfahrt-Personalausweis”
(…) berechtigen ausländische Erlaubnisse zur Ausübung der in § 25 angeführten Tätigkeiten in Österreich, wenn
1. die ausländische Erlaubnis von der Austro Control GmbH (…) durch Bescheid anerkannt worden ist
2. oder die ausländische Erlaubnis auf Grund einer zwischenstaatlichen Vereinbarung als anerkannt gilt.
— LFG § 40 (1) “Anerkennung ausländischer Erlaubnisse”

🇨🇭 Aviation Law

Swiss aviation law is collected in the Luftfahrtgesetz (LFG).

Die Benützung des Luftraumes über der Schweiz durch Luftfahrzeuge und Flugkörper ist im Rahmen dieses Gesetzes, der übrigen Bundesgesetzgebung und der für die Schweiz verbindlichen zwischenstaatlichen Vereinbarungen gestattet.
— LFG Art.1

Zum Verkehr im schweizerischen Luftraum sind (…) zugelassen: (…)
ausländische Luftfahrzeuge, für die durch zwischenstaatliche Vereinbarung die Benützung des schweizerischen Luftraums gestattet ist;
— LFG Art.2

Folgende Personen bedürfen zur Ausübung ihrer Tätigkeit in der Zivilluftfahrt einer Erlaubnis des BAZL: (…) die Führer von Luftfahrzeugen;
— LFG Art.60
Über die Anerkennung ausländischer Ausweise entscheidet das BAZL, sofern nicht zwischenstaatliche Vereinbarungen massgebend sind.
— LFG Art.62

3 Summary

Which licenses and airworthiness certificates are required when an EU pilot is flying an N-registered in the EU? How about a non-EU pilot flying an EU-registered aircraft in the EU? The below table sums up the legal requirements and lists the laws defining them:

Table 1: Overview of the laws and regulations pertaining to operating general aviation aircraft in an EASA member-state. Relevant laws are listed in logical order.

	🛩️ registered in 🇪🇺	🛩️ registered in 🇺🇸
👨🏻‍✈️ resident 🇪🇺	👨🏻‍✈️🇪🇺 pilot’s license [1] 🛩️🇪🇺 airworthiness cert. [2]	👨🏻‍✈️🇪🇺+🇺🇸 pilot’s licenses [1][3] 🛩️🇺🇸 airworthiness cert. [2][5][4]
👨🏻‍✈️ resident 🇺🇸	👨🏻‍✈️🇪🇺 pilot’s license (“holiday”) [1] 🛩️🇪🇺 airworthiness cert. [2]	👨🏻‍✈️🇺🇸 pilot’s license eg. [6][7][3] 🛩️🇺🇸 airworthiness cert. [6][4][2]

[1] EASA Basic Regulation Article 2(1)(b) and Articles 20ff.
[2] EASA Basic Regulation Article 2(1)(b) and Annex V Section 6.1(c) and Article 9
[3] 14 CFR 61.3(a)(1)(i)
[4] 14 CFR 91.203(a)(1)
[5] EU-US BASA Annex I 1.1(a)
[6] Luftfahrtgesetz (Austria)
[7] Convention on International Civil Aviation (“Chicago Convention”)

4 Acknowledgements

I would like to thank EU Commission expert Mr. Jyrki Paajanen for expanding on the recent changes to EU legislation in multiple emails. I would also like to thank members of the German Federal Aviation Office (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA)) for providing detailed answers to my questions on the interpretation of German air law.

5 Further Reading

Except where otherwise noted, the content of this blog is licensed under CC BY 4.0

References

Dempsey, Paul Stephen. 2008a. “Multilateral Conventions in International Aviation.” SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3295916.

———. 2008b. “The Chicago Convention in International Law.” SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3295918.

Sreejith, SG, Lakshmi Srinivasan, and Vistasp Irani. 2023. “The Philosophy of International Aviation Law.” Indiana International & Comparative Law Review 33: 169. https://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/practice/law-reviews/iiclr/pdf/vol33p169.pdf.