The US Federal Aviation Administration has removed the waiver and "portal" country requirements for international flights entering the USA following years of lobbying from the business aviation community.
The agency introduced the requirements following the 11 September terrorist attacks and requested that operators of flights with aircraft weighing less than 45,400kg (100,000lb) must obtain waivers from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) or that the flights go through a portal or safe country - Canada, for example - before entering the USA.
Under the new requirements the FAA says operators "must still file a flight plan, have an operational Mode C transponder and continuously squawk an air traffic control [ATC]-issued transponder code, and maintain two-way communications with ATC".
US trade bodies argue that the waiver requirement has become unnecessary considering all of the other flight requirements that have been implemented post-9/11 from a host of government bodies including the TSA and Customs and Border Protection.
Source: Flight International
