About us

Established in 1988 as a non-profit organisation in the Dutch Registry, and since 1994 affiliated to the global Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). 

EAS was set up with the objective of promoting and protecting the interests of sports and recreational aviation at the European level. The focus is strongly on non-commercial flying activities, carried out in club-type operations. 

As the European Union started to gain powers to regulate civil aviation in the 1990s, the creation of EAS became necessary to ensure that the voice of sports and recreational aviation was heard by the European legislator. Over the past decades, EAS has successfully established itself as a reliable and knowledgeable partner to the European institutions, providing expert advice throughout the whole aviation rulemaking processes, both at technical (EASA – European Aviation Safety Agency) and at political level (European Commission, European Parliament and Council).

EAS supports a European regulatory environment for aviation that respects the principle of proportionality. In practical terms this means that regulation should be proportionate to the complexity of aircraft and the nature of flight operation. We are thus strong proponents of the so-called risk hierarchy, established by the Basic Regulation (2018/1139/EU), which enshrines this principle in European law. 

In brief, we support European aviation regulation that is suitable to sports and recreational aviation and that does not ground our sector by overburdening it with excessive regulatory requirements. These requirements might be appropriate for commercial air transport or commercial operations, but they are completely unsuitable to our kind of flying activities. 

We insist that a minimal amount of regulation to ensure flight safety, access to airspace, free movement and efficient and cost-effective organisation for operations, are of paramount importance for air sports to survive and thrive. Key issues, such as pilot licensing, certification requirements or medical standards must reflect these principles. 

Europe Air Sports and its members are fully supportive of the EU’s Green Deal and related climate policy and open to the uptake of environmentally friendly propulsion technologies, including the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and electrification of our segment of aviation.

Our membership embraces the National Aero Clubs and Air Sports Federations of 16 countries as well as the pan-European representative Air Sports Organisations.

Altogether we represent the interests of an estimated 700 000 sports and recreational aviation active participants.