Japan's transport ministry has opened a one-month public comment period on a proposal to widen the practical-exam exemptions available to holders of European aircraft maintenance licenses, part of an effort to secure more qualified mechanics for the country's carriers and repair shops.
The draft, from the Civil Aviation Bureau's Safety Policy Division, amends the Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Practical Exam Guidelines, a ministerial circular tied to the Aviation Act's provisions on recognizing foreign licenses. Exemptions currently apply only to holders of licenses issued by European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) member states.
A Category B1 holder whose license type already matches the aircraft under test qualifies for a simplified systems-and-avionics check rather than a full exam. The amendment adds a further break only for candidates sitting Japan's first- or second-class aircraft maintenance engineer exam: those who document approval for high-power engine test runs at an EASA-certified maintenance organization could skip two items under the "powerplant operation" subject, the ground engine-running test and the accompanying systems function and operation test, though the fault-response portion still requires testing on the aircraft or a simulator. Candidates authorized only for ordinary, non-high-power test runs get a narrower version limited to specific assessment points, such as start and stop procedures, rather than the full item skip.
A second change extends the simplified check to cases where the license's type doesn't match the aircraft under test, provided the candidate is sitting for a second-class aircraft maintenance engineer certificate, or a first- or second-class flight maintenance engineer certificate, and the aircraft's class and category still match. It does not apply, however, to aircraft for which the Japanese certificate itself carries a type limitation; those exams still require the full standard testing.
The ministry expects to issue the revised guidelines around October 2026. Public comments are open through October 3, 2026, and can be submitted through the e-Gov portal, by email, or by post to the Safety Policy Division's crew policy office in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.