EASA SD No.

: 2021-05

Safety Directive
SD No.: 2021-05
Issued: 12 July 2021
Note: This Safety Directive (SD) is issued by EASA, acting in accordance with Art. 76(6)(a) of
Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, to address an urgent safety problem. It is mandatory for natural
and legal persons in respect of which EASA acts as the competent authority, including Third
Country Organisations holding an EASA certificate.

Subject: Operational Measures to Prevent the Spread of Coronavirus

`SARS-CoV-2` Infection

Effective Date: 19 July 2021

Supersedure: This SD supersedes EASA SD 2020-04 dated 25 June 2020.

Applicability:
Aircraft operators involved in air operations in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU)
965/2012 in respect of which EASA has issued an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and acts as the
Competent Authority; and
Third Country Operators (TCOs) authorised by EASA pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) No
452/2014 when performing commercial air transport of passengers into, within or out of the
territory subject to the provisions of the Treaty on European Union.

Definitions:
The Council Recommendation 2020/1475: Council Recommendation 2020/1475 “on a coordinated
approach to the restriction of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic” (including
latest amendments).

Reason:
The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, has been qualified by
World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Based on the reports published
by the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Centre for
Disease Prevention (ECDC), EASA issued Safety Information Bulletin (SIB) 2020-02 (later revised,
now at Revision 5), providing recommendations to the NCAs and Aircraft and Aerodrome operators
to reduce the risk of spreading of the SARS-CoV-2.

Following the issuance of that SIB, and in order to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 from
potentially contaminated surfaces inside aircraft operated by operators authorised by EASA in
accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 452/2014, EASA issued SD 2020-02, requiring cleaning
and disinfection of aircraft involved in commercial air transportation of passengers by TCOs, after
each flight coming from an airport located in an affected area with high risk of transmission of the
COVID-19 infection.

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In accordance with Article 76(6)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139, EASA issued concurrently the
equivalent SD 2020-01, addressed to NCAs responsible for the certification and oversight of aircraft
operators in commercial air transport in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 965/2012.

After those SD were issued, based on newly available evidence and the epidemiological status at the
time, EASA issued SD 2020-04, superseding SD 2020-02, and the equivalent SD 2020-03, addressed
to NCAs and superseding SD 2020-01.

Since those SDs were issued, the situation concerning COVID-19 across Europe and other regions of
the world has evolved, after reaching the peak values, towards a lower number of cases.
Additionally, the roll-out of vaccination is further reducing the risk of transmission, hence reducing
the incidence rates.

For the reason described above, this SD supersedes SD 2020-04, and requires cleaning and
disinfection of the aircraft at different compliance time, as well as implementation of the EASA-
ECDC Aviation Health Safety Protocol.

The SD 2021-04, addressed to NCAs responsible for the certification and oversight of aircraft
operators in commercial air transport in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 965/2012, is
issued concurrently with this SD, superseding EASA SD 2020-03.

Required Action(s) and Compliance Time(s):

(1) From the effective date of this SD, aircraft operators shall ensure that an aircraft shall not be
used for commercial air transport of passengers to/from/within the territory subject to the
provisions of the Treaty on European Union unless it has been cleaned and fully disinfected
using substances suitable for aviation use (see Note 1 of this SD), at least once in any 7 days
interval, unless the aircraft has not been used for passenger transport since the previous
cleaning and disinfection. The frequency of cleaning and disinfection actions should be
determined based on the operator’s risk assessment, which takes into account the incidence
rates in accordance with the Council Recommendation 2020/1475, as last updated, and
variants of concern (VOCs) circulation in the territories where the aircraft is operated (see
Notes 2, 3 and 4 of this SD) and taking into account other mitigation measures in place (e.g.
mandatory negative testing before boarding, use of vaccination/recovery certificates in the
form of Digital COVID Certificate or equivalent, duration of the disinfecting effects of the
substances used, etc.). For example, the interval could be reduced to once in 24 hours when,
since last cleaning and disinfection, the aircraft has been operated in an area that is assessed as
high risk (red), very high risk (dark red) or unknown risk (grey), or in an area with high
circulation of VOCs.

Note 1: Appropriate substances are, e.g., those recommended by the ECDC or the national public
health authorities. Suitability of the substance(s) should be checked against the aircraft
manufacturers’ documentation. More details regarding the cleaning and disinfection principles can
be found in the EASA-ECDC Aviation Health Safety Protocol and EASA guidance on aircraft cleaning
and disinfection.

Note 2: The risk assessment of the EU/European Economic Area (EEA) States should be based on the
latest map published by ECDC in support of the Council Recommendation 2020/1475.

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Note 3: The spread of VOCs in EU/EEA should be assessed based on the Variants Dashboard of ECDC
and the latest ECDC SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern details.

Note 4: For third country operations the risk assessment criteria of the Council Recommendation
2020/1475 should be used against the official data reported in the respective Country. For the VOCs
the assessment should take into consideration the assessment of the EU/EEA States impacted (e.g.
for Germany the assessment of the VOCs in 3rd countries should include the list of the countries
considered as variant areas provided by the Robert Koch Institute). Where data is not available or is
insufficient to allow a risk assessment, the respective countries/areas should be assessed as grey
areas.

(2) From the effective date of this SD, any aircraft operated to/from/within the territory subject to
the provisions of the Treaty on European Union shall be cleaned and disinfected using
substances suitable for aviation use (see Note 1 of this SD) before next flight, following
notification to the aircraft operator that a confirmed case has been transported during a
previous flight of that aircraft, unless already accomplished after that previous flight. Where
the notification is received by the aircraft operator when the aircraft is in operation (passengers
are on board) the cleaning and disinfection should be performed immediately after the next
scheduled disembarkation of the passengers.

(3) From the effective date of this SD, an aircraft on which a COVID-19 suspect case has been
identified on board shall not be operated to/from/within the territory subject to the provisions
of the Treaty on European Union unless, after that identification, the aircraft is cleaned and
disinfected using substances suitable for aviation use (see Note 1 of this SD).

(4) From the effective date of this SD, aircraft operators shall take measures to ensure that the
health risk onboard any aircraft operated to/from/within the territory subject to the provisions
of the Treaty on European Union is adequately mitigated. This can be achieved by
implementing the applicable guidelines provided by EASA-ECDC Aviation Health Safety
Protocol, as last updated, or comparable measures developed based on international guidance
(e.g. ICAO CART).

Ref. Publications:
EASA SD 2021-04 dated 12 July 2021.

EASA SIB 2020-02R5 dated 30 June 2020.

EASA-ECDC Aviation Health Safety Protocol.

Remarks:
Enquiries regarding this SD should be referred to the EASA Safety Information Section,
E-mail: [email protected].

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