Hong Kong, Macau and the Mainland have signed a co-operation arrangement on mutual acceptance of certificates of airworthiness.

Under current aviation requirements certificates of airworthiness for Hong Kong-, Mainland- and Macau- registered aircraft are issued by the Civil Aviation Department, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Macau Civil Aviation Authority.

The issuance of a certificate is supported by comprehensive technical investigations. When the registration of an aircraft is changed from one authority to another a document has to be issued by the outgoing authority and a new certificate has to be issued by the incoming one.

The co-operation arrangement will eliminate the administrative burden for the outgoing authority of issuing that document. It will also simplify the process by reducing the amount of investigation required when aircraft registration is changed to the incoming authority within the region. It will also shorten the time required in the transfer of aircraft registration.

Manufacturer approvals

The Civil Aviation Department and the Civil Aviation Administration of China also signed another co-operation arrangement on mutual acceptance of parts manufacturer approvals.

A parts approval allows a manufacturer to produce and sell aircraft parts for installation on aircraft. Under the current aviation requirements, parts installed on Hong Kong-registered aircraft are to be approved by the Civil Aviation Department, while parts installed on aircraft registered on the Mainland are to be approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

With the co-operation arrangement, the latter can approve the use of non-critical parts manufacturer approval parts on aircraft registered in Hong Kong without additional approval from the Civil Aviation Department.

The Civil Aviation Department can also approve the use of non-critical parts manufacturer approval parts on Mainland-registered aircraft without separate approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.