The European Aviation Suppliers Association (EASA) has changed its name to European Aviation Suppliers Organisation (EASO) to avoid confusion with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

EASO was formed in 1996 to give aircraft parts suppliers and distributors in Europe a unified

voice when communicating with the JAA and national airworthiness authorities and has members

in the UK, Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Israel and Romania.

The ultimate objective of EASO is to obtain recognition from EASA for stockists and distributors

of aircraft components. EASO has recently adopted the internationally-recognised AS9120

as the quality standard that its members must achieve to become EASO-certified suppliers.

EASO says approval to AS9120 meets the requirements of FAA AC00-56A, which means members will be listed on the ASA-certified suppliers website and be acceptable to companies such as Boeing.

It says this would mean that stockists would only need to be audited by an organisation, and that operators would avoid the need to carry out expensive and time-consuming multiple audits.

Said a spokesman: “EASO members who haven’t yet achieved certification still benefit from free conference, workshops and training, and advice on quality and airworthiness matters.”

To mark its renaming, EASO has launched a new website www.easo.aero which includes a list of members, code of practice, contact details and a members area with public and private forums for members to discuss subjects of concern.

There is also a reporting scheme where members can inform EASO about any quality issues that they believe should be reported to EASA.