Flight authorisation

Operators from the Member States of the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein and Switzerland

In accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 of the European Parliament and of Council of 24 September 2004 on common rules for the operation of air services in the Community, operators from the Member States of the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein have the right to operate intra community air services without any authorization. Written notification of the intended flight (s) must be submitted to the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency (Agency).

Accordant to the Agreement on Air Transport between European Union and Switzerland, the same traffic rights, except for the cabotage rights, apply to Swiss air carriers.

Third country operators (TCO)

Foreign civil aircraft may enter Croatian airspace only if granted authorization, unless otherwise stipulated by an international agreement binding on the Republic of Croatia or EU law.

The terms and conditions for submitting applications and issuing operating permits for flights of foreign aircraft to, from and through the territory of the Republic of Croatia are set out in the Regulation on the authorization of foreign aircraft flights in the Croatian airspace (OG 50/17, 138/23)

Important notice:

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 (TCO Authorisation) issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in accordance with Regulation (EU) 452/2014 laying down technical requirements and administrative procedures related to air operations of third country operators, as amended. 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 are performed.

A TCO authorisation is not required for operators overflying the abovementioned EU territories without a planned landing.

Member States continue to be responsible for issuing operating permits. EASA TCO Authorisation 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.

One-off notification flights

Exceptionally, third country operator not holding EASA TCO Authorisation, may perform:

1)      flights that are performed in the public interest, to address an urgent need, such as humanitarian missions and disaster relief operations;

2)      air ambulance flights that are performed to move sick or injured patients between healthcare facilities or deliver patient medical care.

A notification may be filed only once every 24 months by the third country operator.

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