Luftfahrt-Bundesamt

Charter Flights

Air Carriers from Non-EEA-Member States shall apply for an entry permission prior to commencing charter flights to and from Germany.

The application shall, in principle, be made by the air carrier actually performing the transport (operator).

Scope of the permission

The permission may be requested for single flights or for a series of flights (chain of flights). The entry permission will be generally granted only if the state of registry of the air carrier submitting the application grants entry to German air carriers in the same way (reciprocity principle).

Application deadlines

Applications for individual flights must be submitted to the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt in writing two full workdays prior to commencing the flight, at the latest.

Applications for permission for chains of flights (beginning from the 4th flight in the sequence) must be submitted not later than four weeks prior to commencing the first flight of the chain.

Entry is not permitted without an explicit entry permission.

Each change to flights already approved shall be presented to the LBA taking into account the respective time limits applying to the approval of the application.

In order to do this the following documents shall be submitted in German (or English):

We reserve the right to require additional documentation.

Additional requirements for Fifth Freedom Flights and / or operation with third country aircraft

Evidence that German air carriers are not prepared or in position to conduct the flight / flights (declaration of non-availability)

TCO-Approval

TCOs engaging in scheduled or non-scheduled commercial air transport operations into, within or out of a territory subject to the provisions of the Treaty of the European Union, must hold a safety authorisation issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in accordance with Regulation (EU) 452/2014. This includes operators which are wet leased-in by, or code-sharing with, an EU operator when commercial flights to any territory subject to the provisions of the Treaty of the European Union are performed. A TCO authorisation is not be required for operators only overflying the abovementioned EU territories without a planned landing.

Applications for a TCO authorisation, including all the necessary documentation, should be submitted to the Agency at least 30 days before the intended starting date of operation.

Member States continue to be responsible for issuing operating permits. The safety authorisation issued by EASA is one prerequisite in the process of obtaining an operating permit, or equivalent document, from the respective EU Member State under existing Air Service Agreements between EU Member States and third countries.

For more information please visit the EASA website http://easa.europa.eu/TCO

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