EASA welcomes new flight time limitations rules

EASA welcomes the adoption by the European Parliament of the European Commission proposal to harmonise flight and duty time limitations (FTL) for cabin crew and pilots across the European Union.

This European Commission proposal is based on an EASA Opinion and will bring a series of clear safety improvements in crew protection against fatigue. In particular, night flight duty will be reduced to 11h in the new regulation, instead of 11h45 today, more flights will be considered night flights and subject to shorter duty periods. Total flight time in 12 consecutive months will be limited to 1 000 hours instead of 1 300 hours. The weekly rest will be increased by 12 hours twice a month. The combination of standby at the airport with flight duty will be capped at 16 hours. It is currently 20 hours or 26 hours, or even without limit at all in some Member States.

Reacting to the European Parliament vote, Patrick Ky, EASA Executive Director, said: “we can all be proud of this achievement. Europe now has one of the strictest FTL rules in the world. EASA will continue to pursue its objective to promote the highest safety standards in civil aviation”.

The adoption by the European Parliament concludes more than 5 years of work of safety experts representing pilots, cabin crew, airlines, national aviation authorities and the European Commission under the leadership of the Agency.

Looking into the future, EASA will now work with representatives of cabin crews, pilots, airlines and National Aviation Authorities on the implementation of this new regulation.