CPDLC mandate: Who is exempt from it?

Originally it was planned that all aircraft operating in Europe above FL285 will be affected by this regulation.

But the good news is that there are several categories that are exempt from the list including the following:

• aircraft which have a certified maximum seating capacity of 19 passengers or less and a maximum certified take-off mass of 45 359 Kg (100 000 lbs) or less and with a first individual certificate of airworthiness issued before 5 February 2020;
• aircraft with an individual certificate of airworthiness first issued before 1 January 2018 and fitted prior to this date with data link equipment compliant with the requirements of one of the EUROCAE documents specified in point 10 of Annex III.

Check the other exempt aircraft in ANNEX I and ANNEX II.

The operators who are exempt from the mandate must include the letter “Z” in Field 10 and the indicator “DAT/CPDLCX” in Field 18 of their flight plan. If they don’t, ATC will not know the operators are exempt, which may lead to issues flying above FL285. Find below where to add the necessary equipment codes to aircraft settings in RocketRoute.

More recommendations on how exemption status should be reflected in a flight plan can be found in the EASA Bulletin from Feb 3.

RocketRoute Aircraft Settings

To check and change the settings follow these steps:

MORE - AIRCRAFT - Equipment.

Put a tick in front of 'Z Other Please describe in NAV/ COM/ DAT/'. Add CPDLCX into DAT field.

Scroll down to add the Hex code of your aircraft into the 'CODE/' field.

Further Reading

Eurocontrol answers to FAQs: eurocontrol.int/Frequently_Asked_Questions.

EASA Bulletin from Feb 3.

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