General information on commercial aviation

Individuals, organizations or companies that intend to operate aircraft for commercial purposes must be holders of an air operator certificate, issued by the aviation authorities.

Holders of air operator certificates may transport passengers and/or cargo, whether it is passenger jets on international flights, perform sightseeing flights on smaller aircraft or perform specialiced operations that involve a variety of operations, e.g. research flights.

Before applying for an air operator certificate, it is necessary to understand what type of operation is expected to be carried out and the following points must be kept in mind:

• Types of aircraft to be operated.

• Where the intention is to conduct operations.

• Scope of flight operations.

• Whether the intention is to conduct VFR flights (e.g. sightseeing flights), IFR flights or to have specific authorizations.

Applicants send an application on specific forms and are invited to an interview where the handling of applications is reviewed.

It is not possible to state how long it will take to review an application for an air operator certificate as, for example, it depends on the quality of the submitted data.

When air operators receive their certificate, the Icelandic Transport Authority conducts a detailed audit of the company's headquarters and also conducts a flight inspection.

Payments are according to the tariff list of the Icelandic Transport Authority and consists of an hourly rate.

Rules and Regulations

Icelandic Aviation act no. 60/1998 and EU regulations no. 965/2012 and 1008/2008.

In order to obtain an air operator certificate and operating license for transport flights in Iceland, it is necessary to demonstrate that the requirements of the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) regarding the management of air operations and airworthiness are met. EASA's requirements are much more detailed and complete than ICAO's requirements.

Various parties promote the transport of persons and goods between Iceland and Europe, but they must get an airline with the appropriate licence to handle the flight for themselves. The air carrier shall at all times be responsible for the operation.

The air carriers that are authorized to operate flights in countries in the European Economic Area may operate transport flights between Iceland and Europe (the European Economic Area). In the vast majority of cases, they meet the requirements of EASA and do not require authorization from the Icelandic aviation authorities. However, they must always report their flights and send a copy of their pilot's license to the Icelandic Transport Authority.

The Icelandic civil aviation authorities may permit air carriers in other states of the ICAO to operate commercial air services between these countries in the case of non-scheduled services such as charter flights. The Regulation on such flights provides, inter alia, for safety standards to be observed by the Icelandic Transportation Authority, which are equivalent to those required by the Icelandic authorities. Therefore, air carriers or states banned by the European Commission are not eligible for such flights, and the flight has to be accepted by the European state to which the flight is operating.

The assessment of risks of such flights shall take account of the clear compliance of the air carrier with the ICAO requirements for commercial air transportation and shall also take account of the likelihood of any incident, the number of flights and the seriousness of the consequences if any should occur. In practice, this has led to only airlines that meet EASA requirements handling flights with passengers to and from Iceland in commercial air transport.

In some cases, permission has been granted to transport goods from Iceland with an airline that is not certified by EASA. This has generally been limited to individual flights and due to special circumstances, e.g. if Icelandic interests were high or there were no airlines in the region with aircraft capable of carrying out the project.