EASA SD No.: 2020-01
TE.SDIR.00001-001 © European Union Aviation Safety Agency. All rights reserved. ISO9001 Certified. Proprietary document. Copies are not controlled. Confirm revision status through the EASA-Internet/Intranet. An agency of the European Union
Safety Directive under Article
76(6)(b) of Regulation (EU) No
2018/1139
SD No.: 2020-01
Issued: 13 March 2020
Note: This safety directive (SD) reacting to an urgent safety problem is issued by the Agency
in accordance with Art. 76 (6) (b) of Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139.
Subject: Operational measures to prevent the spread of Coronavirus `SARS-CoV-2`infection
Effective Date: 16 March 2020
Supersedure: Not applicable
Applicability:
National Aviation Authorities (NAAs) responsible for the certification and oversight of aircraft
operators involved in commercial air transport of passengers in accordance with Commission
Regulation (EU) 965/2012.
Definitions:
Airports located in affected areas with high risk of transmission of the CoViD-19 infection are
airports listed in Annex 1 to this Safety Directive. This Annex 1 is developed in coordination with
Member States and based on the information from World Health Organization (WHO), European
Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and other reputable public health institutes.
This list will be regularly updated and available in the EASA Safety Publication Tool and on the EASA
website.
Reason:
The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (CoViD-19) in the city of Wuhan, People’s Republic of
China (PRC) that is caused by SARS-CoV-2 has spread rapidly in China and worldwide, and has been
qualified by WHO as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Based on the reports published by the WHO, the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the ECDC, EASA issued the Safety
Information Bulletin (SIB) 2020-02 (later revised, now at Revision 2), providing recommendations to
the NAAs and Aircraft and Aerodrome operators in order to reduce the risk of spreading of the
SARS-CoV-2. Since that SIB was issued, the situation concerning CoViD-19 across Europe has rapidly
evolved with the development of European clusters of the virus. The spread of SARS-CoV-2 is still on
an increasing curve and the peak values as estimated by DG SANTE and ECDC have not yet been reached.
Furthermore, the current scientific evidence show a potential persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces
up to several days depending on the environment
EASA SD No.: 2020-01
TE.SDIR.00001-001 © European Union Aviation Safety Agency. All rights reserved. ISO9001 Certified. Proprietary
document. Copies are not controlled. Confirm revision status through the
EASA-Internet/Intranet. An agency of the European Union
For the reasons described above and in order to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 from potentially
contaminated surfaces inside aircraft operated by operators certified in accordance with Commission
Regulation (EU) 965/2012, EASA has decided to issue this Safety Directive which: (1) determines the
safety objective to be achieved by the NAAs in respect of those operators, and (2) recommends corrective actions to be taken to achieve that objective.
In parallel EASA has issued, in accordance with Article Art. 76 (6) (a) of Regulation (EU) No
2018/1139, an equivalent Safety Directive 2020-02 addressed to Third Country Operators (TCOs)
authorised by EASA pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) No 452/2014 to perform commercial air
transport operations into, within or out of the territory subject to the provisions of the Treaty on European Union.
Safety Objective(s) to be achieved:
To minimise the risks to passengers and to the general public, due to operations from airports located in affected areas
with high risk of transmission of the CoViD-19 infection by aircraft operators certified in accordance with Commission
Regulation (EU) 965/2012.
Recommended Corrective Action(s) to be taken:
(1) NAAs to ensure, by taking the appropriate national measures, that aircraft operators under their oversight and
involved in commercial air transport of passengers in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 965/2012 from an
airport located in an affected area with high risk of transmission of the CoViD-19 infection:
(1.1) Clean and fully disinfect the aircraft using substances suitable for aviation use after each flight coming from an
airport located in an affected area with high risk of transmission of the CoViD-19 infection (see Note 1 of this SD).
Note 1: Such as substances containing 62%-71% ethanol alcohol, 0.5% hydrogen peroxide, or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite.
Suitability of the substances should be checked against the aircraft manufacturers’ documentation.
The operator may implement different disinfection frequency based on a risk assessment which takes into account the
operational circumstances and the duration of the disinfecting effects of the substance used. In such a case, the
operator shall ensure that the aircraft is fully cleaned and disinfected not later than 24 hours after the departure from an
airport located in an affected area with high risk of transmission of the CoViD-19 infection. (1.2) Equip the aircraft with one or more Universal Precaution Kits. Such kits should be used to protect crew members who are assisting potentially
infectious cases of suspected CoViD-19 and in cleaning up and correctly discarding any potentially infectious contents.
Information on the actions taken:
(2) NAAs shall take measures to achieve the determined safety objective within 7 days from the effective date of this
Safety Directive and inform EASA of those measures.
EASA SD No.: 2020-01 TE.SDIR.00001-001 © European Union Aviation Safety Agency. All rights reserved. ISO9001 Certified.
Proprietary document. Copies are not controlled. Confirm revision status through the EASA-Internet/Intranet.
An agency of the European Union
Ref. Publications:
EASA SD 2020-02 dated 13 March 2020.
Remarks:
1. Enquiries regarding this SD and the information on the actions taken to implement it should be referred to the EASA
Programming and Continued Airworthiness Information Section, E-mail: ADs@easa.europa.eu.
