Balloon transport or commercial balloon flying training air operator's certificate

If you conduct or propose to conduct a balloon transport operation in Australia with a manned free balloon, you must hold a balloon transport Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC). We grant these certificates under Part 131 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR) – Balloons and hot air airships.

Commercial balloon flying training operators

If you conduct or propose to conduct a commercial balloon flying training operation in Australia with a manned free balloon, you must hold a commercial balloon flying training Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC). We grant these certificates under regulation 206 of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (paragraph 206(a)).

Applying for or varying a balloon transport or commercial balloon flying training AOC

Use the application form for any of the following:

  • Initial issue of a balloon transport or commercial balloon flying training AOC.
  • Significant change to your existing AOC (you can include non-significant changes at the same time).
  • Removal of aircraft, activities or key personnel.
  • Renewal of an existing balloon transport or commercial balloon flying training AOC.
  • Addition or removal of associated approvals under Parts 91 or 131.

To do any of the above, you must submit form:

For definitions of 'significant change', refer to paragraph 131.030 of the CASR.

You must complete parts A, H and I. You only need to complete the remaining parts of the form if you are applying for the type of operations, approvals or authorisations specified.

The table below shows the required parts of the form in each scenario.

Required parts of the form for an initial issue, significant change or renewal to your AOC
Application form part Initial Issue Significant Change Renewal (no changes) Renewal (with removal of aircraft or activities or key persons) Renewal (with removal of approvals Parts 91 and 131)
Part A – Applicant Required Required Required Required Required
Part B – Main operating bases Required If making changes to operating bases - - -
Part C – Operations key personnel and aircraft Required If making changes to key personnel - - -
Part D – Significant and non-significant changes - Required - Required -
Part E – Approvals If applying for approvals If adding or removing approvals - - Required
Part F – Exposition / Operations manual compliance matrix Required - - - -
Part G – Additional information and authorisations Required If applying for authorisations - - -
Part H – Organisation and personnel history Required Required Required Required Required
Part I – Other matters, applicant checklist and declaration Required Required Required Required Required

Submitting non-significant changes

If you are only notifying us of non-significant changes use the following form instead:

Complete and submit your application form and supporting documents.

Learn more about significant and non-significant changes.

Supporting documents

In addition to the application form, you must also provide the following:

Initial issue: When applying for the first time you must include a complete exposition document covering all requirements of the regulations for your proposed operations.

Significant change: You must resubmit the relevant parts of your exposition identifying the changes you wish to make, along with supporting information. You may choose to give us your complete exposition document including proposed changes.

Non-significant change: You must give us your updated exposition identifying the changes you have made.

Renewals without change: You only need to submit the signed application form.

The exposition included with your application must include a process for identifying and making changes. Refer to paragraph 131.195 (1) (m) of the CASR.

To assist you when compiling your exposition, refer to our Advisory Circular:

Associated approvals – form Part E

You can apply for or remove approvals under paragraphs 91.045 and 131.035 of the CASR using the AOC (balloon operations) application form.

How to apply

If you are only notifying us of non-significant changes refer to the submitting non-significant changes section above.

  1. Complete and submit your AOC application form

    Complete and submit a signed AOC (balloon operations) application form to advise us of your intended operations:

    Instructions on how to submit are within the form.

    We will acknowledge receipt of your application by email.

    We will review the application to ensure you have answered the relevant questions and provided all required documents. If your application is incomplete, we will notify you.

  2. Pay the fee and submit supporting documents

    We will send you an estimate of the costs to assess your application. This is valid for 30 days from the date of estimate.

    The estimate letter will also contain any additional documents you must provide to support your application.

    If you wish to proceed with your application, you must:

    • pay the application fee
    • submit any supporting documents.
  3. Assessing your application

    We assess your applicating using our protocol suite. This helps us to make a decision the suitability of your application, ensure we are consistent in our approach and provides a record of our decision.

    We won't start formally assessing your application until we have received your payment and any supporting documents.

    If we don’t receive your payment and supporting documents within 30 days, we may close your request. We will notify you if this happens.

  4. Issue of your certificate

    When we have finished assessing your application, we will finalise your request and email the certificate to you.

Further assistance

Contact us for assistance on your application or questions about your balloon transport or commercial balloon flying training AOC.

Last updated:
2 Mar 2023
Online version available at: https://www.casa.gov.au//index.php/licences-and-certificates/air-operators/balloon-transport-or-commercial-balloon-flying-training-air-operators-certificate
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