Permission for groundhandling services
PERMISSION TO PROVIDE GROUNDHANDLING SERVICES TO THIRD PARTIES
Legal basis
• Art. 173.1.2 of the Act of 3rd July 2002 – Aviation Act (OJ 2020.1970 as amended) hereinafter referred to as the Act
• The Regulation of the Minister of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy of 25th November 2013 on airport groundhandling (OJ 2013.1378 as amended).
• The Regulation of Minister of Finance of 27th 2012 on mandatory insurance of civil liability of air carriers, entrepreneurs providing groundhandling and providers of air navigation services (OJ 2013.67).
General conditions
I. Permission is required for conducting economic activity at public use airports as regards groundhandling services of aircraft, crew, passengers and freight provided for air carriers and other aircraft users.
The obligation to obtain permission does not apply to:
1) Air carrier performing its own groundhandling (“self-handling”) with regard to its own aircraft, crew, passengers, baggage, cargo or mail;
2) Suppliers of groundhandling services of aircraft, crew, passengers, baggage, cargo and mail provided within their own business and on their own behalf (not third party handling).
II. The number of permissions for groundhandling suppliers shall not be limited, subject to situation specified in art. 176b of the Act.
III. In order to obtain permission to provide groundhandling services, an entrepreneur should submit a request to the President of the Civil Aviation Authority.
The application should include:
• The designation of the entrepreneur, registered office and address and in the case of a natural person – nationality and address of the principal place of business;
• The number of entry in the appropriate register of entrepreneurs, provided that the operator is subject to entry in that register;
• The PESEL number (Polish identification number) of a natural person conducting economic activity if the PESEL number has been obtained;
• Categories of groundhandling services (or types of services in each category) for which permission is to be granted;
• Tax identification number (NIP);
• Airport or airports at which services are to be provided;
• Period for which permission is to be granted;
• The date of commencement of activity.
Necessary documents
IV. In accordance with paragraph 4 of the Regulation of the Minister of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy of 25th November 2013 on airport groundhandling (Journal of Laws of 2013, 1378) the application must be accompanied by the following documents:
1) act of incorporation or statute of a legal person with all changes – a copy is accepted;
2) in the case of a natural person – identity document of an applicant indicating the place of residence and confirming her/his citizenship (a copy);
3) a statement of compliance with environmental protection requirements;
4) a statement of compliance with security requirements of devices and people unless the fulfilment of these requirements is met in the process of certification, referred to in art. 160 of the Act;
5) a statement of an entrepreneur of compliance with requirements for aviation security.
V. In the case of entrepreneurs operating in the period preceding the application, in order to confirm that the economic situation allows to provide groundhandling, the application should be additionally accompanied by the following documents:
1) approved financial statement for the previous financial year, if an entrepreneur is obliged to its preparation under Polish accounting regulations or other specific regulations as well as the auditor’s opinion, if it is required by Polish accounting regulations or other specific regulations – a copy is accepted;
2) annual income tax return for the financial year preceding the submission of the application – for companies other than those referred to in point 1 and operating in the financial year preceding the application – a copy is accepted;
3) current completed application form for a financial statement which was submitted to Polish GUS (Central Statistical Office) – for entrepreneurs obliged to submit such forms under appropriate regulations – a copy is accepted.
VI. In the case of entrepreneurs starting the activity of providing groundhandling services as well as the entrepreneurs referred to in point V, the application should be additionally accompanied by the following documents:
1) a statement of an entrepreneur that they are not in liquidation, have not declared bankruptcy and that enforcement proceedings have not been conducted against them;
2) the business plan indicating that the entrepreneur is financially and economically capable of providing groundhandling serviced in selected categories for at least 3 months from the date of commencement of those activities – a copy is accepted.
VII. The documents must contain current data on the day of the submission of the application and the documents referred to in point IV (3-5) and point VI (1) must also be issued not earlier than 3 months prior to the day of their submission.
Documents in foreign language must be accompanied by a translation into Polish.
VIII. According to art. 177.3 of Aviation Act, one of the conditions for obtaining permission to provide groundhandling services is meeting the requirements for liability insurance.
In order to meet the requirements of Liability Insurance please provide proof of civil liability insurance coverage for the company pursuant to the scope indicated in the Regulation of Minister of Finance of 27th 2012 on mandatory insurance of civil liability of air carriers, entrepreneurs providing groundhandling and providers of air navigation services (Journal of Laws of 2013, 67).
The minimum amount of liability insurance coverage for entities referred to in relation to one occurrence, the effect of which is covered by the insurance contract liability, is the equivalent in PLN:
1) 5 000 000 SDR for suppliers of services defined in art. 176 points 3-5 and 7 of the Act;
2) 1 500 000 SDR for suppliers of services defined in art. 176 point 1-2, 6 and 8-11 of the Act.
Guidelines for Business plans
As the legal provisions do not include detailed information on the content of the business plan the Civil Aviation Authority has prepared guidelines in this respect. They are aimed at facilitating preparation of business plan by applicants. They shall enable the President of the Civil Aviation Authority to assess financial and economic capability of the entrepreneur to provide groundhandling services. The guidelines shall be regarded as minimum expectations. In case of doubts the President of the Civil Aviation Authority can ask the applicant for more detailed information or explanation.
guidelines (in Polish only)
Aviation fees
According to art. 26e.1 of Aviation Act, payment for official activities, as referred to in art. 26e.1 item 1, 4 and 5 (including permissions issued by the President of the Civil Aviation Authority), shall be made upon submission of an application for a specific official act. Therefore, it is required to pay aviation fee in the amount specified in Annex 6 to Aviation Act along with the application for permission.
According to Annex 6 to Aviation Act, the aviation fee for granting permission to provide airport groundhandling services at public use airport is:
• Category 1 – ground administration and supervision: 1.540 zł.
• Category 2 – passenger handling: 1.540 zł
• Category 3 – baggage handling: 928 zł
• Category 4 – freight and mail handling: 1.540 zł
• Category 5 – ramp handling: 1.540 zł
• Category 6 – aircraft services: 1.540 zł
• Category 7 – fuel and oil handling: 9.221 zł
• Category 8 – aircraft maintenance: 1.540 zł
• Category 9 – flight operations and crew administration: 1.540 zł
• Category 10 – surface transport: 1.540 zł
• Category 11 – catering services: 1.540 zł
Please indicate Table 1, Part 1 in the transfer title and a brief description indicating that the fee is paid for permission to provide airport groundhandling services.
List of handling agents
List of handling agents 19/06/2024
Contact
Air Transport Department, Aviation Commercial Activity Division (LER-1)
+48 22 520 72 51/50
fax: +48 22 520 72 50