Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 sets out the conditions for granting and maintaining an Operating Licence.
Article 4 (f) requires that the holder of an Operating licence must be majority owned and effectively controlled by Member States and/or nationals of Member States at all times, except as provided for in Community agreements.
Please refer to our Guidance Note on how we apply the ownership and control requirements.
The European Commission has also published Interpretative Guidelines on the ownership and control rules for European airlines as contained in Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008.