Fragmentation reigns in Europe’s regs   - September 20, 2006,
11:54 AM  German executive charter firm Triple Alpha Luftfahrt
has added a sixth Cessna CitationJet to its fleet. Ordinarily
this wouldn’t be particularly big news, but the company’s
experience in trying to get the aircraft registered provides a
fascinating insight into how fragmented and inconsistent
Europe’s aviation regulatory environment still is in
practice–despite long-standing efforts to introduce regulatory
harmonization.  Triple Alpha wanted to register the CJ in
France, base it at Paris Le Bourget Airport and use it largely
for charter flights in both France and Germany. Under Europe’s
existing JAR-OPS 1 commercial operating rules this should be
perfectly straightforward and in keeping with the European
Union’s single-market principles.  But when Triple Alpha
managing director Hans Pfeiffer informed German civil aviation
authority Luftfahrt Bundesamt (LBA) of his intentions–expecting
this to be a mere formality–the answer was a firm nein.