EU-OPS 1 - Extract 1 — Page 1, Lesson 8

Let's start with the mass values for passengers on aeroplanes with 19 seats or fewer. This is the first of the standard-mass tables, and it's where we begin to see how the regulator lets us use fixed numbers instead of weighing every single person. The rule is simple: if the total number of passenger seats available on the aeroplane is 19 or less, we use the standard masses in Table 2. And Table 2 is broken down by seat count — 1 to 5 seats, 6 to 9 seats, and 10 to 19 seats — and by passenger category. For a male passenger: 104 kg for 1–5 seats, 96 kg for 6–9 seats, and 92 kg for 10–19 seats. For a female passenger: 86 kg, 78 kg, and 74 kg respectively. Children are a flat 35 kg across all three seat bands. Now, there's an important adjustment. On flights where no hand baggage is carried in the cabin, or where hand baggage is accounted for separately, we may deduct 6 kg from the male and female masses. So a male on a 10–19 seat aeroplane would drop from 92 kg to 86 kg. But note the careful wording: articles such as an overcoat, an umbrella, a small handbag or purse, reading material, or a small camera are not considered hand baggage for this purpose. So those items don't prevent the deduction — they're treated as part of the person. Then we move to baggage. Here the rule flips. Where the total number of passenger seats is 20 or more, we use the standard mass values in Table 3 for each piece of checked baggage. But for aeroplanes with 19 passenger seats or less, the actual mass of checked baggage, determined by weighing, must be used. So the small aeroplanes that get the passenger standard masses must weigh their baggage — no standard baggage masses for them. Table 3 gives us the baggage standard mass by type of flight. Domestic means a flight with origin and destination within the borders of one State. Flights within the European region means flights, other than domestic flights, whose origin and destination are within the area specified in Appendix 1 to OPS 1.620(f). And intercontinental flight, other than flights within the European region, means a flight with origin and destination in different continents. The values: Domestic is 11 kg, within the European region is 13 kg, intercontinental is 15 kg, and all other is 13 kg. Finally, there's a general rule: if an operator wishes to use standard mass values other than those in Tables 1 to 3, he must advise the Authority of his reasons and gain its approval in advance. So the tables are the default, but deviation is possible with prior approval. That's the core of this extract — the standard masses for passengers and baggage, and the conditions under which they apply.