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Aircraft; application for approval

If you wish to operate an aircraft, you must apply for a certificate of airworthiness. The airworthiness certificate includes entry in the aircraft register and the issue of an airworthiness certificate.

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Luftfahrt-Bundesamt

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Hermann-Blenk-Straße 26
38108 Braunschweig

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Postfach 3054

38020 Braunschweig

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www.lba.de

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Procedure details

With an airworthiness certificate for an aircraft, you can put the approved aircraft into operation. The airworthiness certificate consists of the entry in the aircraft register and the issue of an airworthiness certificate.

The aircraft register is the official list of all aircraft licensed to fly in the Federal Republic of Germany.

You can apply for an airworthiness certificate for aircraft with an EASA certificate or Annex I aircraft. To do this, you need a registration number for the aircraft. If you have not been allocated a registration number or have one reserved, you will not be able to apply for a license to fly. If the aircraft's registration number cannot be properly affixed, you must apply for a special marking permit. You can apply for a special permit for identification using the online form.

You must provide the following information for the traffic authorization

  • the owner or the community of owners
  • the community of owners, if applicable
  • the aircraft
  • the condition of the aircraft
  • the location of the aircraft
  • the airworthiness certificate

As an owner from a third country, you must also submit the declaration for third country owners. You come from a third country if you do not have German citizenship or citizenship of an EU member state or citizenship of a country in which European Union aviation law applies.

To apply for an airworthiness certificate, you will need a number of required documents, which you upload in the online form as part of the application process.

After the Federal Aviation Office has checked your application, you will receive the registration certificate and the airworthiness certificate. This allows you to put your aircraft into operation.

The following aircraft require a traffic license to be put into operation:

  • Airplanes,
  • rotorcraft,
  • airships,
  • motor gliders,
  • gliders,
  • manned balloons,
  • air sports equipment,
  • model aircraft with a maximum take-off mass of more than 150 kilograms and
  • other aircraft, provided they are intended for use in airspace and must be inspected in accordance with the ordinance on the inspection of aircraft.

Aircraft in accordance with Section 1 (4) Luftverkehrs-Zulassungs-Ordnung (LuftVZO) are exempt from traffic licensing. Model aircraft with a maximum take-off mass of more than 25 kilograms and up to 150 kilograms do not require a traffic license if their roadworthiness has been confirmed in accordance with the ordinance on the testing of aircraft.

In order to obtain a traffic license, the aircraft for which a traffic license is to be applied for must not be registered in another foreign state aircraft register.

You can apply for a certificate of airworthiness as the owner. You can be issued with a certificate of airworthiness if you

  • as the owner you are a natural person with German citizenship or citizenship of an EU member state or
  • you are a citizen of a country in which European Union aviation law applies.
  • Owners can also be legal entities and companies under commercial law with their registered office in Germany, in which the majority of the assets or capital as well as the actual control thereof is held by German nationals or nationals of an EU member state and the majority of the authorized representatives or personally liable persons are German nationals or nationals of an EU member state.
  • Nationals of EU Member States are treated in the same way as German nationals.
  • Owners can also be natural persons or legal entities from a third country, provided that they have signed a contract of ownership with a citizen or legal entity of the EU for at least 6 months.

You can also submit the application as a representative for the owner.

Please note that the following requirements apply to owners:

  • Natural persons with German citizenship, citizenship of an EU member state or natural persons from a state in which European Union aviation law applies.
  • Legal entities and companies under commercial law with their registered office in Germany, where the majority of the assets or capital as well as the actual control thereof is held by German nationals or nationals of an EU Member State and the majority of the authorized representatives or personally liable persons are German nationals or nationals of an EU Member State.

You can also submit the application as a representative for the keeper.

In order to be able to apply for a traffic license, it is necessary that the aircraft in question already has a registration number.

You can apply for a traffic license if you meet all the necessary requirements and have all the required documents that are relevant for the traffic license.

  • Required document/s

    Documents that are required:

    • Certificate of deletion or non-registration
    • Allocation certificate from the Federal Network Agency
    • Proof of ownership
    • Proof of nationality of the owner or owners in the case of joint owners
    • Proof of nationality of the owner or of the owners in the case of joint owners

    Documents required for private individuals, sole proprietors and organizations that do not have their place of residence/registered office in Germany:

    • Authorization to serve and receive documents

    Documents required for the representation of private individuals or sole proprietors or for the application or representation of companies, associations, GbRs:

    • Proof of authorization to represent (for your organization)

    Documents required for registration as a sole proprietor:

    • Extract from the commercial register or trade license

    Documents required for companies:

    • Extract from the commercial register and, if applicable, a certified translation of the extract from the commercial register into English or German
    • Declaration signed by the company's authorized representatives

    Documents required for an association with legal capacity:

    • Extract from the register of associations and, if applicable, a certified translation of the extract from the register of associations into English or German

    Documents required for a civil law partnership (GbR) with small commercial activities

    • Partnership agreement
    • Business registration of all partners

    Documents required for a community of owners:

    • Consent of the owners

    Documents required if the license plate cannot be affixed properly:

    • Proof of compliance with national requirements
    • Proof of labeling

    Documents required if the maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is over 1,550 kilograms and the aircraft was first put into service no more than 3 months ago or has not been used for more than 40 operating hours:

    • Completed form "Notification for VAT purposes"

    Documents required if the aircraft is a brand-new aircraft with a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certificate and the origin of the aircraft is an EU country or a country subject to EU aviation law:

    • Declaration of Conformity EASA Form 52

    Documents required in the original if it is a used aircraft with an EASA certificate, the origin of the aircraft is an EU state or a state affiliated to EU aviation law and there is a previously valid certificate of airworthiness from the previous state of registry and a valid ARC is available:

    • Previously valid certificate of airworthiness from previous state of registry
    • Previously valid ARC

    Documents required if the aircraft is a used aircraft with an EASA certificate, the origin of the aircraft is an EU state or a state subject to EU aviation law and there is no previously valid certificate of airworthiness from the previous state of registry and no valid airworthiness review certificate (ARC) is available:

    • EASA Form 15a or 15b (ARC)

    Documents required for brand-new aircraft with an EASA certificate of origin from a third country:

    • Declaration by the competent authority of the exporting state that the aircraft conforms to an EASA-approved design (for example C of A for Export)

    Documents required for a used aircraft with an EASA certificate originating from a third country:

    • Declaration by the competent authority of the exporting state on the airworthiness status of the aircraft at the time of transfer
    • Previous records in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 748/2012 Section H paragraph 21.A.174 (b) (3)

    Documents required for aircraft referred to in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139 originating from an EU State or a third country

    • Certificate of Airworthiness for Export (CoAE)

    Documents required for aircraft with an EASA certificate:

    • Cover sheet of the flight manual according to the data sheet
    • Weighing report, loading plan if applicable

    Documents required for joint operators or for operators if the owner is not the operator or the application is made on behalf of the owner:

    • Declaration on data protection by the keeper or keeper's representative

    Documents that must be forwarded to the LBA in the original by the holder's insurance company to the insurance broker:

    • Confirmation of insurance in accordance with the Air Traffic Licensing Regulations

    Documents required if the owner is a national of a third country and the application is made by proxy:

    • Declaration for third country owners

    Please refer to the application form to find out which documents are required in your case.

You can apply for a traffic license online or in writing.

Online application:

  • Go to the website of the federal portal and complete the online application.
  • You can upload your documents directly.
  • Submit the application online.
  • The Federal Office of Civil Aviation will check your application.
  • You will receive a notification and fee notice.
  • After you have paid the fees, you can retrieve the notification and receive the registration certificate and the original airworthiness certificate for putting the aircraft into service.

Written application:

  • Call up the forms for traffic licensing on the website of the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA).
  • Different forms are required depending on who is making the application and what type of aircraft is involved. Fill out the forms and compile the required documents.
  • Send all documents to the LBA.

The further procedural steps are the same as for the online application.

Fee for applying for a traffic license, depending on the take-off mass
Fee: EUR 80 - EUR 4,500

The authorization may be restricted, amended, subject to conditions or limited in time. The license shall be withdrawn if the requirements for its issue are not met. It shall be revoked if the requirements for its issue are subsequently no longer met, not only temporarily, or if a notification of insurance cover is received in accordance with the Aviation Licensing Regulations. If the liability insurance has been inactive for one year or less, the license will only be revoked if the insurance is not reinstated after the one-year period has expired.

For third-country owners: The registration will be deleted if the leasing relationship lasts less than 6 months.

The processing time may vary depending on the particular circumstances of each case. The Luftfahrt-Bundesamt will provide information on the status of processing on request.

If you do not yet have a license plate for your aircraft, you can apply for a license plate reservation.

You have the option of applying for an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) as part of the traffic license.

You are obliged to apply for the allocation of a secondary radar code (SSR mode code) as part of the traffic license.

You have the option of applying for a noise protection certificate as part of the traffic license.

  • Contradiction

Status: 17.07.2024
Editorially responsible for prodecure description: Bundesministerium für Verkehr
Source: Federal Portal
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