In February 2026, EASA published an official assessment of the administrative burden faced by commercial operators of small aeroplanes (Part-CAT and Part-SPO).
Conducted by Ecorys and NLR with 67 representative operators, the study puts precise figures on something many operators already experience firsthand: regulatory monitoring is the single biggest source of administrative burden.
The assessment breaks the administrative burden down into five areas. Of these, monitoring regulatory developments — compliance monitoring including changes to regulations — ranks first:
To put that into perspective, this is more than the combined cost of SMS, safety management, audits and NCA inspections.
The report defines this area as:
the continuous process of ensuring compliance with applicable regulations, including monitoring regulatory updates and adjusting internal processes accordingly.
In day-to-day operations, this means:
And then doing it all again at the next amendment cycle.
The report documents the actual frequency of regulatory changes: at least ten significant amendments to the Air Ops Regulation over the past five years.
Each amendment is accompanied by dozens of new AMC and GM. And as the assessment highlights, even a seemingly minor change can trigger a domino effect across manuals: renumbering, cross-references and associated procedures.
The report also points to the introduction of Part-IS — cybersecurity — as an additional source of burden, noting that the issues identified around regulatory changes “also apply to this particular case”.
79% of the operators surveyed report experiencing significant difficulties in meeting their administrative obligations.
Among the comments collected:
Another issue raised is inconsistent interpretation between countries.
The report notes that:
it is often interpretation at national level that creates administrative burden, rather than the legislation itself.
For operators active in several Member States, this creates additional uncertainty — and duplicate administrative work.
One of the most revealing findings in the report concerns the nature of these costs.
What should be a one-time investment — achieving compliance, training staff and updating documentation — systematically turns into an ongoing burden.
Operators confirm this with concrete figures: recurring administrative costs estimated at €20,000, €40,000, and even €100,000, depending on the organisation, with a significant share linked to the continuous monitoring of regulatory developments.
The report’s conclusion is clear:
“efforts to reduce administrative burden need to address both the frequency of regulatory changes and the cumulative impact of compliance tasks on operational costs”.
Specifically regarding regulatory monitoring, the report makes one recommendation: national competent authorities should improve the way they communicate upcoming regulatory changes and provide operators with examples and best practices for demonstrating compliance.
The estimated impact: a 15% reduction in the burden associated with this area.
But this recommendation is addressed to national authorities. Its implementation depends on institutional decisions and national processes. At best, the timeframe is measured in years.
The EASA report officially confirms what many operators experience every day: regulatory monitoring carries a disproportionate administrative burden, is poorly supported by existing tools, and continues to grow with every new amendment cycle.
This is not simply an organisational problem — it is a structural one.
While waiting for reforms to materialise, the practical question remains:
How can you reduce those 1,826 hours today?
That is exactly where ComplyAir comes in: it filters regulatory amendments based on your operations — Part-CAT, Part-SPO, certificates held — targeted alerts on what actually applies to you, and an article-by-article history of changes, without having to monitor the entire EASA regulatory framework yourself.
EASA, Evaluation of the rules for commercial, small-size aeroplane operators under Part-CAT and Part-SPO, 2 February 2026, Ecorys / NLR.
