Twinjet targeted for agency's first in-house approval
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is targeting the Airbus A350 as the first aircraft it will certificate itself, as it battles to bring its staffing up to the required level. The pan-European airworthiness agency has also finalised its fees and charges regime, amid criticism from small aircraft manufacturers.
Despite formally leading all new aircraft certification work in the European Union, EASA outsources certification activity back to seven approved national aviation authorities (NAA), due to lack of resources. The approved NAAs are those of the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK.
Patrick Goudou, EASA executive director, says he hopes to have a team of around 100 certification experts in place by the middle of this year, in time to manage the A350 approval process from start to finish. The recruitment of certification experts is EASA's top priority for 2005. The agency met its target of recruiting 100 staff in its first year, many of whom work in administration and other positions. It has so far drawn certification experts mainly from France's DGAC, as well as from its German and Belgian counterparts, but has had less success convincing candidates from Italy, the UK and other countries, Goudou admits. "I am not anxious about reaching our staffing needs, as I know it's an attractive agency, but there are some difficulties as people seem to be reluctant to move to Cologne," he says.
Once EASA is fully staffed, NAAs will be limited to "proximity tasks" such as inspecting supplemental type certificates. The agency plans to fund certification work with a fees and charges plan approved by its board last week. The fine detail of the charges will be hammered out by European governments and the European Parliament by mid-year, but initial estimates suggest EASA will generate around €37 million ($47 million) of revenue from service charges during 2005. The agency says the tariffs "give us a solid financial foundation to continue our work".
The new fee structure, due to enter force in the second half, will replace the existing mixed system of charging in various NAAs, ranging from full charges in the UK to Germany, where the government funds all certification activity. Manufacturers of light aircraft in Germany and other fee-free countries are unhappy about the change, but EASA says its approach is "balanced".
JUSTIN WASTNAGE / COLOGNE
Source: Flight International
