Article 3 Air operations

1.       Operators of balloons shall operate the balloon in accordance with the requirements set out in Subpart BAS of Annex II.

However, the first subparagraph shall not apply to design or production organisations which are compliant with Articles 8 and 9, respectively, of Commission Regulation (EU) No 748/2012[9] and which operate the balloon, within the scope of their privileges, for the purposes of the introduction or modification of balloon types.

2.       Operators of balloons shall engage in commercial operations only after having declared to the competent authority their capacity and means to discharge the responsibilities associated with the operation of the balloon.

The first subparagraph shall not apply to the following operations with balloons:

(a)      cost-shared operations by four individuals or less, including the pilot, provided that the direct costs of the flight of the balloon and a proportionate part of the annual costs incurred for the storage, insurance and maintenance of the balloon are shared by all those individuals;

(b)     competition flights or flying displays, provided that the remuneration or any other valuable consideration for such flights is limited to the recovery of the direct costs of the flight of the balloon and a proportionate part of the annual costs incurred for the storage, insurance and maintenance of the balloon and that any prizes gained do not exceed the value specified by the competent authority;

(c)      introductory flights with four individuals or less, including the pilot, and flights for the purposes of parachute dropping, performed either by a training organisation referred to in Article 10a of Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 that has its principal place of business in a Member State, or by an organisation created for the purposes of promoting aerial sport or leisure aviation, provided that the organisation operates the balloon on the basis of either ownership or a dry lease agreement and provided that the flight does not generate profits distributed outside the organisation and that such flights represent only a marginal activity of the organisation;

(d)     training flights performed by a training organisation referred to in Article 10a of Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 that has its principal place of business in a Member State.