In 2020, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom made decisions due to the coronavirus pandemic that made it possible to extend the validity of pilots’ class, type and instrument ratings, language proficiency endorsements, instructor ratings, flight examiner authorisations as well as certain flight operator trainings and inspections with lighter procedures. The general exemption mentioned above will no longer be continued. However, individuals can still apply for an exemption in accordance with Article 71 of the EASA Regulation.
An exemption may be granted in the event of urgent unforeseeable circumstances or urgent operational needs, if all of the following conditions have been met:
a) it is not possible to adequately address those circumstances or needs in compliance with the applicable requirements;
b) safety, environmental protection and compliance with the applicable essential requirements are ensured, where necessary through the application of mitigation measures;
c) the Member State has mitigated any possible distortion of market conditions as a consequence of the granting of the exemption as far as possible; and
d) the exemption is limited in scope and duration to the extent strictly necessary and it is applied in a non-discriminatory manner.
In 2021, the price of an exemption is EUR 500. If the processing time of exemption applications that require special investigation exceeds 4 hours, an additional fee of EUR 150/h shall be paid for the hours exceeding the amount; Traficom will notify the applicant about the issue. If the information provided is still insufficient after clarifications and additional justifications requested by Traficom, a negative decision subject to a fee is sent to the applicant.
In order for the exemption to be processed, the applicant must submit an application to Traficom’s registry (kirjaamo@traficom.fi) that includes the following information required by Traficom for the notification submitted to EASA. Submitting the information in English speeds up the processing of EASA’s recommendation, increases transparency and makes potential further investigation easier. In the application, it is extremely important to state in detail how the coronavirus pandemic prevents compliance with the requirements of the Regulation, because it is the most important criterion for granting an exemption.
Information required for the application
- In the title of the application: “Exemptions in accordance with Articles 70 and 71: 05.00.28.00”
- Title (Briefly describe the problem related to the exemption)
- Duration (Duration of the exemption in the format YYYY-MM-DD – YYYY-MM-DD. The total duration may be 8 months at maximum including previous exemptions, if any)
- Exempted requirements (Reference to the section of the regulation to which the exemption applies)
- Summary of the exemption (Detailed description of the deviation from the regulation)
- Reasons for granting it (Describe the unforeseeable and/or urgent operating conditions that led to the need for an exemption)
- Summary of mitigating measures, if any (State any measures taken to mitigate risks and ensure aviation safety)
- Type of operation (Such as commercial air transport, private aviation)
- Organisation, operator, aerodrome or person whom the exemption is granted to (With regard to a personnel licence: name, date of birth and licence number)
- Attached documentation (Attachments, if any)