Air Operator Certificate (AOC)

An Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a National Aviation Authority (NAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees and the general public.

The certificate will list the aircraft types and registrations to be used, for what purpose and in what area - specific airports or geographic region.

Categories

AOCs can be granted for one or more of the following activities:

• Aerial advertising
• Aerial photography
• Aerial spotting
• Aerial surveying
• Air ambulance or aeromedical
• Charter (low capacity and high capacity)
• Firefighting
• Flight Training
• Regular public transport (RPT) (low capacity and high capacity)

Low capacity operations is when operating aircraft with under 38 passenger seats, high capacity is above that.

Requirements

The requirements for obtaining an AOC vary from country to country, but are generally defined as:

• Sufficient personnel with the required experience for the type of operations requested
• Airworthy aircraft, suitable for the type of operations requested
• Acceptable systems for the training of crew and the operation of the aircraft (Operations Manual)
• A quality system to ensure that all applicable regulations are followed
• The appointment of key accountable staff, who are responsible for specific safety critical functions such as training, maintenance and operations
• Carriers Liability Insurance (for Airlines) - Operators are to have sufficient insurance to cover the injury or death of any passenger carried,
• Proof that the operator has sufficient finances to fund the operation
• The operator has sufficient ground infrastructure, or arrangements for the supply of sufficient infrastructure, to support its operations into the ports requested
• The certificate is held by a legal person who resides in the country or region of application (for EASA)

...Aviation Glossary