Specialised Operations (SPO)

Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 lays down technical requirements and administrative procedures related to air operation. Operations other than commercial air transport where the aircraft is used for specialised activities such as agriculture, construction, photography, surveying, observation and patrol, aerial advertisement are included in this regulation.

Declaration

SPO operators engaged in commercial specialised operations or engaged in non-commercial specialised operations using a complex motor-powered aircraft shall submit a declaration to the DAC about their operations. The declaration is required in order to establish and maintain the required oversight programme for SPO operators.

The declaration shall be submitted to ops@av.etat.lu before the operations start (Declaration Template). This step is further described on MyGuichet.

Commercial specialized operations

Operators shall only operate an aircraft for the purpose of commercial specialised operations as specified in Annexes III (Part-ORO) and VIII (Part-SPO) of Regulation (EU) No 965/2012.

High risk commercial specialised operation

‘High risk commercial specialised operation’ means any commercial specialised aircraft operation carried out over an area where the safety of third parties on the ground is likely to be endangered in the event of an emergency, or, as determined by the competent authority of the place where the operation is conducted, any commercial specialised aircraft operation that, due to its specific nature and the local environment in which it is conducted, poses a high risk, in particular to third parties on the ground.

Upon receiving an application for the issue of a high risk commercial specialised operations authorisation, the DAC will review the operator’s risk assessment documentation and standard operating procedures (SOPs), related to one or more planned operations and developed in accordance with the relevant requirements of Annex VIII (Part-SPO).

When satisfied with the risk assessment and SOP, the DAC will issue the authorisation, as established in Appendix VI of Annex II (Part-ARO). The authorisation will be issued for a limited or an unlimited duration. The conditions under which an operator is authorised to conduct one or more high risk commercial specialised operations will be specified in the authorisation.

Any changes which could impact risk assessment and SOP shall be identified by the operator and updates shall be submitted to the DAC prior to implementing those changes.

List of high risk activities in Luxembourg

Each activity will need to be assessed by the operator. If the operator believes the activity is to be considered as a high risk (as per definition above), an application shall be made to the DAC or the operator’s EASA member state Competent Authority for a High Risk Authorisation.

In Luxembourg, the following activities are considered as “high risk”:

• helicopter external loads operations over congested area and open-air assembly of persons
• human external cargo operations over congested area and open-air assembly of persons
• aerial photography flights over congested area and open-air assembly of persons and below 3200ft AMSL
• aerial advertising flights over congested area and open-air assembly of persons and below 3200ft AMSL
• construction work flights, including stringing power line operations, clearing saw operations over congested area and open-air assembly of persons
• survey operations, including aerial mapping operations, pollution control activity over congested area and open-air assembly of persons and below 3200ft AMSL
• news media flights, television and movie flights over congested area and open-air assembly of persons and below 3200ft AMSL
• special events flights, including such as flying display and competition flights
• flights over congested area and open-air assembly of persons where the minimum flight altitude is not respected

This list may be subject to amendment.

Marginal activities

The term ‘marginal activity’ should be understood as representing a very minor part of the overall activity of an organisation, mainly for the purpose of promoting itself or attracting new students or members. An organisation intending to offer such flights as regular business activity is not considered to meet the condition of marginal activity. Also, flights organised with the sole intent to generate income for the organisation, are not considered to be a marginal activity.

According AMC1 ARO.OPS.300, the following criteria are to be considered for marginal activities:

• Activity which takes place less than 20 days per calendar year, and
• Activity which does not generate profit distributed outside of the organisation.

When such activity take place, the organization should inform the DAC.

Additional information

In case of questions related to SPO regulation, please consult our FAQ below, consult EASA SPO page https://www.easa.europa.eu/domains/air-operations/specialised-operations-spo or send an e-mail to ops@av.etat.lu.

Frequently Asked Questions