Part-ORO Operations Manual and Management System
EASA Part-ORO operations manual and management system: the OM’s Part A–D structure, ORO.GEN.200 safety and compliance monitoring, and the OM as binding law.
Dionysis Kefalas5 min readFor Air Ops staff
Part 3 of 6 in EASA Air Operations Show parts
Quotes checked on against EASA Easy Access Rules for Air Operations (Regulation (EU) No 965/2012) — 27 Mar 2026 revision.
On this page
The manual and the management system
The management system and the operations manual are the two documents on this page. They meet in one sentence of ORO.GEN.110. The AOC guide is the application.
(b)Every flight shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the operations manual.
Quoted word for word from Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, Easy Access Rules for Air Operations, 27 Mar 2026 revision.
That sentence is why the manual is the instruction set for the flight. The management system below is what keeps the manual, and the operation, aligned with the rules.
The management system
ORO.GEN.200 is the list.
(a)The operator shall establish, implement and maintain a management system that includes:
(1)clearly defined lines of responsibility and accountability throughout the operator, including a direct safety accountability of the accountable manager;
(2)a description of the overall philosophies and principles of the operator with regard to safety, referred to as the safety policy;
(3)the identification of aviation safety hazards entailed by the activities of the operator, their evaluation and the management of associated risks, including taking actions to mitigate the risk and verify their effectiveness;
(4)maintaining personnel trained and competent to perform their tasks;
(5)documentation of all management system key processes, including a process for making personnel aware of their responsibilities and the procedure for amending this documentation;
(6)a function to monitor compliance of the operator with the relevant requirements. Compliance monitoring shall include a feedback system of findings to the accountable manager to ensure effective implementation of corrective actions as necessary; and
(7)any additional requirements that are prescribed in the relevant Subparts of this Annex or other applicable Annexes.
(b)The management system shall correspond to the size of the operator and the nature and complexity of its activities, taking into account the hazards and associated risks inherent in these activities.
Quoted word for word from Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, Easy Access Rules for Air Operations, 27 Mar 2026 revision.
The accountable manager's direct safety accountability is (a)(1). Hazard identification, and checking that mitigations worked, are (a)(3). Compliance monitoring, with findings fed back to that manager, is (a)(6). Paragraph (b) is the proportionality rule: the system follows the size and complexity of the operation.
Point (a)(3) in practice, with a worked risk register, is in Hazard Identification and Safety Risk Management under EASA. The audit programme behind (a)(6) is in Compliance Monitoring Audit Programme: Part-145 and CAMO, which has a section on air operators.
The operations manual
ORO.MLR.100 is what an operations manual is, and who has to be able to use the current copy.
(a)The operator shall establish an operations manual (OM) as specified under 8.b of Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008.
(b)The content of the OM shall reflect the requirements set out in this Annex, in Annex IV (Part-CAT), Annex V (Part-SPA), Annex VI (Part-NCC), Annex VIII (Part-SPO) and Annex IX (Part-IAM), as applicable, and shall not contravene the conditions contained in the operations specifications to the air operator certificate (AOC), the SPO authorisation or the declaration and the list of specific approvals, as applicable.
(c)The OM may be issued in separate parts.
(d)All operations personnel shall have easy access to the portions of the OM that are relevant to their duties.
(e)The OM shall be kept up to date. All personnel shall be made aware of the changes that are relevant to their duties.
(f)Each crew member shall be provided with a personal copy of the relevant sections of the OM pertaining to their duties. Each holder of an OM, or appropriate parts of it, shall be responsible for keeping their copy up to date with the amendments or revisions supplied by the operator.
[…]
Quoted word for word from Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, Easy Access Rules for Air Operations, 27 Mar 2026 revision.
Read (b) for what the content shall reflect, and for the boundary it sets. Point (c) is the permission to issue the manual in separate parts. Read (d) to (f) for access, currency, and the crew member's own copy.
How the manual is laid out
For CAT and IAM, ORO.MLR.101 fixes the main structure. The exception is written in the opening of the point; it is not a general permission to invent another filing system.
Except for operations with single-engined propeller-driven aeroplanes with an MOPSC of 5 or less or single-engined non-complex helicopters with an MOPSC of 5 or less, taking off and landing at the same aerodrome or operating site, under VFR by day, the main structure of the operations manual (OM) shall be as follows:
(a)Part A: General/Basic, comprising all non-type-related operational policies, instructions and procedures;
(b)Part B: Aircraft operating matters, comprising all type-related instructions and procedures, taking into account differences between types/classes, variants or individual aircraft used by the operator;
(c)Part C: CAT operations with aeroplanes and helicopters, comprising route/role/area and aerodrome / operating site instructions and information or, IAM operations with VCA, comprising route/role/area and vertiport / diversion location / operating site instructions and information;
(d)Part D: Training, comprising all training instructions for personnel required to ensure safe operations.
Quoted word for word from Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, Easy Access Rules for Air Operations, 27 Mar 2026 revision.
Outside that exception, use Parts A to D as the quote names them. Part C has a CAT limb and an IAM limb.
Why this is the operational heart
The manual is the instruction set ORO.GEN.110(b) requires for every flight. Compliance monitoring and the accountable manager's safety accountability are in the management-system quote above. Crew composition and flight time limitations and specific approvals are the next guides.
Where to read it yourself
The management system rules sit in Subpart GEN of Annex III (Part-ORO). The operations manual rules sit in Subpart MLR of the same Annex. Both are consolidated in the EASA Easy Access Rules for Air Operations, with the Acceptable Means of Compliance and Guidance Material. Every citation here was checked against the 2026-03-27 revision.
Educational content, not regulatory compliance advice. Verify against the current regulation text before relying on it.
In this series
Related
- EASA Air Operations Explained: Part-CAT, the AOC and Operator ResponsibilitiesGuide · 6 min
- How to Get an EASA Air Operator Certificate (AOC)Guide · 7 min
- EASA Flight Time Limitations (FTL) and Crew RequirementsGuide · 14 min
- EASA Specific Approvals (Part-SPA): LVO, PBN, ETOPS and MoreGuide · 5 min
- Compliance Monitoring Audit Programme: Part-145 and CAMOGuide · 18 min
- EASA Safety Performance Indicators: What the Rules SayGuide · 17 min
Written by Dionysis Kefalas. Retired Hellenic Air Force Captain and founder of Avioverse. About the author
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