Background

ETOPS

Updated: 2010-09-02 16:53

ETOPS is an acronym for Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards, an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standard and Recommended Practice (SARP) permitting twin-engined commercial air transporters to fly routes that, at some points, are farther than a distance of 60 minutes' flying time from an emergency or diversion airport.

This rule allows twin-engined airliners - such as the Airbus A300, A310, A320, A330 and A350 families, the Boeing 737, 757, 767, 777 and 787, and the Embraer E-Jets - to fly long-distance routes that were previously off-limits to twin-engined aircraft. Government-owned aircraft (including military) do not have to adhere to ETOPS regulations.

ETOPS operation has no direct correlation to water nor distance over water. It refers to single-engine flight times between diversion airfields - regardless as to whether such fields are separated by water or land.

Until the mid-1980s, the term EROPS (extended range operations) was used before being superseded by ETOPS usage. Currently, the ETOPS term is commonly used for operations previously described as LROPS or EROPS. ETOPS may be replaced by a newer system, referred to as LROPS or "Long Range Operational Performance Standards", which will affect all civil airliners, not just those with a twin-engine configuration.