Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/24 of 19 December 2024 amending Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 as regards requirements for aircraft operators related to ground handling activities

Article 1

Annexes I, III and IV to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

Entry into force and application

Article 2

1.   This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . 2.   It shall apply from 27 March 2028.

ANNEXSupplementary provisions

ANNEX Annexes to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 are amended as follows: (1) in Annex I the following points 130 and 131 are added: ‘(130) “ground supervision” means a ground handling service consisting of activities related to the supervision of all ground handling services to an operator at an aerodrome. This service may be contracted to a ground handling organisation or performed by the aircraft operator itself, as self-handling; (131) “load control” means a process under the responsibility of the aircraft operator, to ensure that the aircraft is safely and efficiently loaded before each flight;’; (2) Annex III is amended as follows: (1) in point ORO.GEN.150, the following point (d) is added: ‘(d) inform any contracted ground handling organisations of the actions taken to address the non-compliance if that non-compliance directly affects the safety risk within, or the responsibilities of, that ground handling organisation.’; (2) the following point ORO.GEN.315 is added in Subpart GEN, Section III ‘Additional organisational requirements’: ‘ ORO.GEN.315     Operational procedures for ground handling (a) The operator shall ensure that the ground handling services for its aircraft, passengers, mail and cargo are provided either as self-handling performed by its own personnel or as contracted services to a third-party ground handling organisation, or a combination of both. (b) The operator shall ensure that the third-party ground handling organisation provides services in accordance with the operator’s instructions and procedures. (c) When contracting ground handling services listed in Article 2(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20 to an organisation operating under the terms of a declaration in accordance with that Regulation, the operator may use the operational procedures of the contracted organisation in any of the following cases: (1) the operator agrees that the ground handling organisation applies its own operational procedures for the provision of ground handling services, in accordance with point GH.OPS.005(b) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20. This shall be documented; (2) the ground handling organisation providing the services has declared its capability to discharge the responsibilities associated with the services provided and that declaration is valid; (3) the operator cannot provide its own procedures and instructions to the ground handling organisation. (d) When the operator ensures ground supervision with its own personnel as self-handling or contracts this activity to a third-party service provider, it shall ensure that the ground supervision function complies with point ORO.GEN.110 and that the operator includes the following elements in its operations manual: (1) a description of the activities included within the scope of ground supervision and any necessary procedures; (2) the responsibilities associated with this function; (3) the training programme for this function, with an emphasis on safety training when this function has safety-related tasks.’; (3) Annex IV is amended as follows: (1) the following point CAT.GEN.MPA.220 is added in Subpart GEN, Section 1 ‘Motor-powered aircraft’: ‘ CAT.GEN.MPA.220     Additional responsibilities for CAT operators of complex motor-powered aeroplanes performing self-handling (a) The operator providing any of the ground handling activities listed in Article 2(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20 to itself or within a single air carrier business grouping (self-handling) shall comply with the applicable requirements of Annex I and Annex II to that Regulation, except for the requirements applicable to the ground supervision function, which shall comply with point ORO.GEN.315. (b) The operator shall submit the training programme for its ground handling personnel in accordance with point ORGH.GEN.145 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/20 to the competent authority responsible for the oversight of ground handling activities. The dangerous goods training programme is subject to approval in accordance with ORO.GEN.110(j).’; (2) point (b)(1) of CAT.POL.MAB.105 is replaced by the following: ‘(1) verify the integrity of the output data to ensure that the data is within the AFM limitations or the operations manual limitations if more restrictive; and’; (3) the following point CAT.POL.MAB.110 is added: ‘ CAT.POL.MAB.110     Load control process The operator shall establish and implement a load control process and associated procedures, which shall be included in the operations manual.’.