Part-CAMO is the EU rulebook that governs how continuing airworthiness is managed for most commercially operated and many privately operated aircraft. If your organisation holds, or needs, a Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation (CAMO) approval, this guide pulls together the regulation itself, the exposition you have to write, the contracting rules that trip people up, and the training route into the role, with links through to the detailed articles on each topic.

What is Part-CAMO?

Part-CAMO is Annex Vc to Regulation (EU) No 1321/2014, the EU’s continuing airworthiness regulation. It was inserted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1383 and became applicable on 20 February 2020, with organisations previously approved under the old Part-M Subpart G given until 20 August 2021 to transition their approvals across. In practice, Part-CAMO replaced Subpart G as the standalone rulebook for organisations that manage the continuing airworthiness of aircraft, whether that’s an airline’s in-house CAMO, an independent CAMO managing aircraft on behalf of owners, or a combined CAMO/maintenance organisation.

A CAMO’s job, at its core, is to make sure every aircraft on its approval stays airworthy for as long as it’s in service: tracking the maintenance programme, scheduling checks and life-limited component replacements, reviewing airworthiness directives, and holding the paper trail that proves all of it happened.

The core CAMO requirements at a glance

A handful of clauses in Part-CAMO do most of the heavy lifting. You don’t need to memorise the regulation, but it helps to know what each one is actually asking for before you start building or auditing a CAMO:

• CAMO.A.125 – Privileges. Sets out what an approved CAMO is actually allowed to do, and the conditions attached to those privileges, including how far it can go in subcontracting continuing airworthiness management tasks to another organisation.
• CAMO.A.135 / CAMO.A.315(c) – Contracting maintenance. Covers how a CAMO contracts the physical maintenance work itself out to an approved maintenance organisation, as distinct from subcontracting management tasks under CAMO.A.125.
• CAMO.A.200 – Management system. Requires the CAMO to run a documented management system, with clear accountability, a safety and compliance monitoring function, and defined processes, This is the backbone the rest of the organisation hangs off.
• CAMO.A.300 – Continuing airworthiness management exposition (CAME). Requires the CAMO to produce and keep current an exposition describing its organisation, procedures and scope of work, the document your national authority actually approves.
• CAMO.A.305 – Aircraft maintenance programme. Requires an approved maintenance programme for every aircraft managed, covering scheduled maintenance, life limits, and applicable airworthiness directives and instructions for continued airworthiness.

The sections below go deeper on each of the areas that most commonly cause delays or findings: the management system, contracting decisions, and the exposition itself.

Building an effective CAMO management system

CAMO.A.200 is where most new CAMOs underestimate the work involved. It is not just an org chart, it’s an accountable manager, a compliance monitoring function with real teeth, and processes that actually get followed under audit. We’ve written a full breakdown of what a compliant management system needs to contain and how to structure it: CAMO.A.200 Explained: Building an Effective CAMO Management System.

Contracted vs subcontracted CAMO activities

One of the most common points of confusion and a frequent finding during audits, is the difference between subcontracting continuing airworthiness management tasks under AMC1 CAMO.A.125(d)(3) Appendix II, and contracting maintenance to an approved maintenance organisation under AMC1 CAMO.A.315(c) Appendix IV. They sound similar but carry very different obligations for oversight and responsibility. We’ve laid out exactly where the line sits: Contracted vs Subcontracted CAMO Activities Under Part-CAMO.

Writing your Continuing Airworthiness Management Exposition (CAME)

The CAME, required under CAMO.A.300, is the document your competent authority actually reviews and approves. It needs to describe your organisation, your procedures, and your scope of approval in enough detail to stand up to an audit, without becoming unmanageable to keep current. Our step-by-step guide walks through what to include, section by section: How to Write a CAME.

Building a CAMO from scratch

If you’re setting up a new CAMO rather than maintaining an existing one, the sequencing matters. Personnel and accountable manager sign-off, management system, exposition, and application to your competent authority all depend on each other. Our full walkthrough covers the process end to end: How to Build a CAMO from Scratch.

CAMO exposition template: what your CAME should cover

A common request we get is simply: what should a CAME’s table of contents actually look like? While every exposition needs to be tailored to your organisation’s scope and complexity, most compliant CAMEs are built around the same core sections:

1. Organisation – accountable manager, nominated post holders, and an organisation chart showing lines of accountability
2. Scope of work – the aircraft types and categories the CAMO is approved to manage
3. Management system – safety policy, compliance monitoring, and management review processes (CAMO.A.200)
4. Continuing airworthiness management procedures – how aircraft maintenance programmes are developed, reviewed and amended (CAMO.A.305)
5. Airworthiness review procedures, where the CAMO holds that privilege
6. Contracting and subcontracting arrangements – distinguishing contracted maintenance from subcontracted management tasks
7. Record-keeping – retention periods and the continuing airworthiness records system
8. Personnel – qualifications, training records and competence assessment
9. Amendment procedure for the exposition itself

Section 1.4 of that structure, accomplishment and control of airworthiness directives, is a procedure in its own right and a frequent source of findings. Our guide to airworthiness directive management covers what the procedure has to do and how the airworthiness review tests it.

CAMO engineers managing aircraft with fuel tank systems also carry a separate mandatory training obligation. Raven’s EASA fuel tank safety training (Phase 1 and Phase 2) covers it, and our guide to which staff legally need which phase explains where the line falls.

Test what you know first. The free Part-M & Part-CAMO Quiz Duel has 300 timed questions in three levels, from Annex numbers to practitioner scenarios, with the regulation behind every answer.

Get trained on Part-CAMO

Reading the regulation gets you part of the way there. If you are new to continuing airworthiness altogether, our free Part-M & Part-CAMO: An Introduction course covers the regulatory architecture, who’s who, and what a CAMO actually does in about 30 minutes, at no cost. If you need your team, or yourself, formally trained and competent on Part-CAMO, our Part-M and Part-CAMO Familiarisation course covers the regulation end to end and is the right starting point for anyone moving into the role. For personnel who need to go deeper into CAMO-specific procedures and management-system requirements, our Part-M & Part-CAMO Specialisation course builds on it.

FAQs