32014R0139

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?

Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 introduces requirements for managing, certifying and operating aerodromes¹ throughout the European Union (EU), which replace the existing national rules on aerodrome safety.

KEY POINTS

Oversight

Each EU Member State must designate a competent authority (or authorities) that:

• has (or have) powers and responsibilities to certify and oversee aerodromes, their staff and the organisations involved;
• is (or are) independent from aerodrome operators and providers of apron management services (AMS)².

Staff authorised by the competent authority must have powers to perform at least the following tasks:

• check records, data, procedures and any other material relevant to the execution of the certification and/or oversight task;
• take away copies of or extracts from those materials;
• ask for an oral explanation on site;
• enter aerodromes, relevant premises, operating sites or other relevant areas and means of transport;
• perform audits, investigations, tests, exercises, assessments and inspections;
• take or initiate enforcement measures as appropriate.

European Union Aviation Safety Agency

• Within three months of the application of Regulation (EU) No 139/2014, Member States were required to inform the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), established under Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, of the following information regarding the aerodromes:
  • the names,
  • the locations,
  • the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) airport codes,
  • the names of the operators,
  • the number of passengers and cargo movements.
• Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 (see summary) lays down specific obligations for the Member States’ competent authorities to set up systems for reporting, analysing and following up on occurrences in civil aviation as part of their management system. Since these obligations exist in parallel with the reporting requirements under Regulation (EU) No 139/2014, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/894 (an implementing act), aligns the occurrence-reporting systems of the national competent authorities under Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 with the principles of Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 on the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation with effect from 20 March 2025.

• Member States may exempt certain aerodromes from the rules of Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 for reporting, analysing and following up on occurrences in civil aviation, specifically those that handle no more than:
  • 10 000 passengers per year,
  • 850 movements related to cargo operations per year.
• However, they must examine the traffic figures of an exempted aerodrome on a yearly basis.

Certificates

• The regulation contains rules regarding the conversion of certificates issued before 31 December 2014, under national rules, for a transitional period up until 31 December 2017.
• For a transitional period, competent authorities were allowed to accept applications for a certificate, including deviations from the certification specifications issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, provided that the technical conditions set out in the regulation’s annexes were met. In such cases, the competent authorities had to compile evidence that those conditions were met in a deviation acceptance and action document (DAAD), which was attached to the certificate.
• The competent authorities had to specify the period of validity of the DAAD and could amend, suspend or withdraw the DAAD if the conditions were no longer met.

Aerodrome operations

• To ensure the safety levels of aerodrome operations, data quality requirements have to be completed at the operations level.
• Additional requirements set out in a delegated act, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1234, have been incorporated into Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 and have applied since 20 March 2022. These concern aerodromes and organisations providing AMS and include:
  • competent authorities’ powers regarding the declarations of capability submitted by AMS-providing organisations;
  • requirements for AMS-providing organisations regarding safety management, operational procedures and personnel;
  • requirements for managing safety-related interfaces between the aerodrome operator, the organisations responsible for providing AMS and the air traffic service provider with regard to operations on the apron.

Ground-handling activities

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/21 introduces specific safety-related obligations for aerodrome operators providing ground-handling activities and adjusts several requirements for a better interface with the obligations of ground-handling organisations as aerodrome users.

• Aerodrome operators must inform ground-handling organisations of action taken to address occurrences of non-compliance when these directly affect the safety risks or responsibilities of those organisations.
• Where aerodrome operators themselves provide ground-handling services, they must comply with the applicable ground-handling safety requirements set in Regulation (EU) 2025/20, which may be integrated into their existing management systems.
• Aerodrome operators may integrate ground-handling-related documentation into the aerodrome manual or maintain it separately; the manual and amendments related solely to ground handling do not require approval by the competent authority.
• Aerodrome operators and providers of AMS that also provide ground-handling services may use an integrated management system covering all applicable safety regulatory requirements.
• New minimum safety conditions apply to storage facilities made available by aerodrome operators for:
  • dangerous goods, ensuring segregation and protection against damage;
  • unit load devices, ensuring protection against damage, deterioration, storage on the ground and adverse weather.

Runways

• Annex I to the regulation was amended by Regulation (EU) 2018/401. The amendments reflect changes adopted by the ICAO designed to simplify the existing runway approach classification and more accurately describe the various types of approach and landing operations.
• To reduce the number of runway-safety-related accidents and serious incidents involving runway incursions, along with other runway-safety-related events, Annex I was further amended by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/2148. It seeks to implement the applicable ICAO standards and recommended practices on runway surface condition assessment and reporting, including adding definitions of new terms.

Aerodrome surroundings

Member States must ensure:

• that consultations take place on the safety impacts of proposed construction:
  • within the limits of the obstacle limitation³ and obstacle protection⁴ surfaces, along with other surfaces associated with the aerodrome,
  • beyond the limits of the obstacle limitation and obstacle protection surfaces, along with other surfaces associated with the aerodrome and those that exceed the height set by Member States;
• that they coordinate the safeguarding of aerodromes located near borders with other Member States;
• that consultations are conducted with regard to human activities and land use such as:
  • developments that may create obstacle-induced turbulence that could be hazardous to aircraft operations,
  • the use of hazardous, confusing and misleading lights,
  • the use of highly reflective surfaces that may cause dazzling,
  • activities that may interfere with the performance of aeronautical communications, navigation and surveillance systems.

Wildlife hazard management

Member States must:

• have procedures for recording and reporting wildlife strikes to aircraft;
• collect information from aircraft operators, aerodrome personnel and other sources on the presence of wildlife constituting a potential hazard to aircraft operations;
• ensure wildlife hazards are evaluated on an ongoing basis by authorised personnel; and
• collect and forward wildlife strike reports to the ICAO for inclusion in the ICAO bird strike information system.

Requirements for all-weather operations

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/208, which lays down rules on implementing all-weather operations at aerodromes, amends the regulation’s Annexes I, III and IV.

Information security risks with a potential impact on aviation safety

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1645 sets out requirements for aerodrome operators and AMS providers on managing information security risks with a potential impact on aviation safety. It has applied since 16 October 2025.

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2293 corrects the relevant cross-references in Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 to ensure that competent authorities review the associated approvals as part of their oversight audit cycles and when an organisation’s scope of activities changes.

FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 has applied since 6 March 2014.

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/21 applies from 27 March 2028.

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2293 has applied since 22 February 2026.

BACKGROUND

For further information, see:

• Aerodromes (European Commission)
• Aerodromes (European Union Aviation Safety Agency).

KEY TERMS

1. Aerodrome. A defined area (including any buildings, installations and equipment) on land or water, or on a fixed offshore or floating structure, intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival, departure and surface movement of aircraft.
2. Apron management services. The body overseen by a competent authority that provides services managing the activities and the movement of aircraft and vehicles on an apron – a defined area intended to accommodate aircraft for the purposes of loading or unloading passengers, mail or cargo; fuelling; parking; or maintenance.
3. Obstacle limitation surface. A surface that defines the limits to which objects may project into the airspace.
4. Obstacle protection surface. A surface established for a visual approach slope indicator system above which objects or extensions of existing objects shall not be permitted except when, in the opinion of the appropriate authority, the new object or extension would be shielded by an existing immovable object.

MAIN DOCUMENTS

Commission Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 of 12 February 2014 laying down requirements and administrative procedures related to aerodromes pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 44, 14.2.2014, pp. 1–34).

Successive amendments to Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/894 of 13 March 2024 amending Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 as regards occurrence reporting (OJ L, 2024/894, 20.3.2024).

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1645 on the application of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, on requirements for the management of information security risks with a potential impact on aviation safety.

See consolidated version.

Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

See consolidated version.

Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 on the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation.

See consolidated version.