EUR-Lex Regulation 2025/0021

(1)

Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 establishes essential requirements for the safe provision of ground handling services and organisations providing them at the Union aerodromes within the scope of that Regulation.

(2)

Commission Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 (2) lays down requirements and administrative procedures related to aerodromes, including on certain operations and facilities that are directly related to ground handling services and organisations providing them.

(3)

All organisations under Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 are responsible for managing safety risks and aiming for continuous improvement of safety including mutual sharing of safety-relevant information. The purpose of this Regulation is to ensure a common approach when addressing the safety risks of the interfaces in ground handling operations, beyond the occurrence-reporting obligations. This approach would complete the occurrence-reporting obligations to competent authorities and would ensure a more direct flow of safety information among the stakeholders concerned. Therefore, the aerodrome requirements should be amended to enable aerodrome operators to share relevant safety information resulting from occurrence reports or oversight inspections and audits with other organisations to support them in maintaining safety of their own operations.

(4)

To ensure a level playing field for all organisations providing ground handling services at the Union aerodromes within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and a baseline level of safety of the ground handling activities, aerodrome operators should also comply with the ground handling requirements when they provide ground handling services. However, as aerodrome operators already have a management system in place, the ground handling requirements should be easy to integrate to create minimum disruptions to the established system of the aerodrome operator. Therefore, the new requirements on ground handling activities should only cover the differences and the missing elements of the aerodrome operator’s management system, thus avoiding contradictions or duplications of the existing requirements.

(5)

Dangerous goods in cargo or mail may be a significant hazard to health, safety, environment or property when not stored correctly. When they are stored at aerodrome storage facilities, the storage conditions should be adequate to prevent any damage to those packages. Therefore, the aerodrome requirements should be amended to ensure that minimum safety conditions for the storage facilities are complied with.

(6)

When unit load devices are used for the carriage of baggage and cargo, they have to be stored in good condition when not in use. Therefore, it is important that when the aerodrome operator makes available facilities for the storage of unit load devices, those facilities are adequate and prevent their damage, deterioration, or storage on the ground. The aerodrome requirements should be amended to clarify this.

(7)

To avoid any unnecessary duplication of documentation, aerodrome operators providing ground handling services themselves may either include the ground handling elements into their existing aerodrome manual if they consider this is more effective than creating an additional ground handling manual or add them in a separate manual. In either case, the ground handling manual and any subsequent amendments and revisions to it should not require an approval by the competent authority. The relevant requirement in Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 should be amended accordingly to reflect this.

(8)

If aerodrome operators or providers of apron management services provide also ground handling services, they have to develop and implement a management system compliant with the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20 (3). To avoid duplication of the same elements of their management system for compliance with all regulations applicable to them, these organisations should be allowed to have an integrated management system for efficiency purposes. The aerodrome requirements and the apron management service requirements should therefore be amended to enable the possibility for those organisations to establish and apply an integrated management system.

(9)

The ground handling domain represents an interface in itself, with services being provided to an aircraft at an aerodrome. This makes it difficult at times to make a clear distinction between the responsibilities of the different stakeholders involved in the same activities, or they may overlap in certain steps. One of such activities is related to the control of pedestrians on the movement area and around the aircraft. While the aerodrome operator is responsible for ensuring that procedures are in place for the safety of pedestrians on the movement area, without necessarily being also the one that implements those procedures, the organisation that implements those procedures is usually the ground handling organisation that performs more activities on the apron and around the aircraft during passenger boarding and disembarkation. The aerodrome operator would have in such case rather a coordination and monitoring role. To clearly distinguish between the different roles of the aerodrome operator and the ground handling organisation when it is different from the aerodrome operator, and considering the current way in which such procedures are actually implemented, the wording of the relevant requirement should be adjusted to bring more clarity in terms of the responsibilities of each party involved.

(10)

Aircraft refuelling is an activity involving several stakeholders – aerodrome operator, aircraft operator and ground handling service provider – with different responsibilities in the process, all aiming at ensuring safety of the operation, the aircraft and the aerodrome. For a better identification of the responsibility of the aerodrome operator in ensuring aerodrome safety and good apron management during aircraft refuelling, the requirement addressing aircraft refuelling should be slightly adjusted. This should also prevent the unintended interpretation that the aerodrome operator might be responsible for the procedure related to aircraft refuelling which belongs to the aircraft operator as an activity related to the servicing of its aircraft.

(11)

Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 should therefore be amended.

(12)

It is necessary to provide sufficient time for the ground handling industry and competent authorities to implement the new regulatory framework after the entry into force of this Regulation, therefore a transition period of 3 years should be provided in the Regulation.

(13)

The requirements laid down in this Regulation are based on Opinion No 01/2024 (4) issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in accordance with Article 75(2), points (b) and (c), and Article 76(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139.

(14)

In accordance with Article 128(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, the Commission consulted experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (5),