The experience indicated in the GM1 BOP.ADD.040 is not required by performing the functions of one of the posts defined in BOP.ADD.040, in this case, experience refers to experience in balloon operations.

Paragraph (c) of the GM1 BOP.ADD.040(c) guide material states that the Operations Officer should have or have had the balloon pilot licence, so it is not strictly necessary for the person performing the duties of Flight Operations Officer to have a valid license.

According to BOP.ADD.510(b) SOPs may be part of the operations manual or may be listed as a separate document.

In accordance with paragraph (g) of the AMC1 BOP.ADD.200, where information from other sources is used in the operations manual, the operator may either transcribe it or refer to the specific section from which the information is extracted.

No. Neither the manual nor its amendments are approved by the State Aviation Safety Agency. It is the responsibility of the operator, as indicated in BOP.ADD.200, to develop the operations manual, as well as the control of its editing or revision status.

No. In order to conduct commercial operations the operator must submit only the declaration of compliance.

Operators who conduct commercial balloon operations, and who conduct competition flights, must include this type of specialised operation in their declaration.

In the case of non-commercial operators involved in competition flights, a declaration is not required to be submitted in accordance with Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2018/395, but as this is a specialised operation they must develop the corresponding checklist in compliance with requirement BOP.BAS.190.

The full-time equivalent is a concept that allows to measure the number of full-time employees working in an organisation and is calculated by suming all staff hours of work in one year, either part-time or full-time and by dividing the result by the number of hours of a full-time employee. 

More information at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:Full-time_equivalent_(FTE)

No. Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2018/395 excludes operations with captive balloons from the scope of the regulation.