The Republic of Costa Rica does not comply with ICAO safety standards and is assigned a Category 2 rating based on a reassessment of the country’s civil aviation authority, the FAA has announced.

What does Category 2 International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) rating mean? If the country is given Category 2 rating, it means that this country “either lacks laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, or its civil aviation authority is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, or inspection procedures”.

Therefore, it does not imply that the carrier cannot operate in the US. “With a Category 2 rating, Costa Rica’s carriers can continue existing service to the United States. They will not be allowed to establish new service to the United States”, says the FAA.

The FAA also emphasized that assessment of the civil aviation authorities is carried out in all the cases whenever the carriers from whichever country have applied to fly to the United States, currently conduct operations to the United States, or participate in code-sharing arrangements with U.S. partner airlines.

The results of the assessment indicate whether or not foreign civil aviation authorities are meeting ICAO safety standards, not FAA regulations.

Before being given the Category 2 rating, Costa Rica was assigned an initial Category 1 rating, meaning the country’s Direccion General de Aviacion Civil (DGAC) complied with ICAO standards for aviation safety oversight.

However, in October 2018 reassessment was conducted, the results of which were discussed with the DGAC in February 2019.

A Category 1 rating means the country’s civil aviation authority complies with ICAO standards. With an IASA Category 1 rating, a country’s air carriers can establish service to the United States and carry the code of U.S. carriers.