FAR 21.325 — Export Airworthiness Approvals

FAR 21.325 sets out how the FAA issues export airworthiness approvals when U.S. aviation products are sold or transferred to buyers in other countries. While most student pilots won't deal with this directly, understanding it helps you grasp how aircraft and parts move through the global aviation system under FAA oversight.

Key points of the rule:

• For a complete aircraft, an export airworthiness approval is issued as an Export Certificate of Airworthiness. Importantly, this certificate does not authorize operation of the aircraft — it only documents airworthiness for export purposes.
• For an aircraft engine, propeller, or article (parts and components), the FAA prescribes the specific form and manner of the approval.
• An export approval can be issued for a product or article located outside the United States, provided the FAA determines doing so creates no undue burden in administering Title 49 U.S.C. and the applicable regulations.

Operationally, this matters because an Export C of A is a paperwork document, not an operating authorization — the receiving country must still issue its own airworthiness certificate before the aircraft can be flown there.