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Statutory Instrument 1989 No. 303

The Civil Aviation (Route Charges for Navigation Services) Regulations 1989

(The document as of February, 2008)

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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

1989 No. 303

CIVIL AVIATION

The Civil Aviation (Route Charges for Navigation Services) Regulations 1989

Made2nd March 1989
Laid before Parliament10th March 1989
Coming into force1st April 1989

    Whereas in pursuance of tariffs approved under the Eurocontrol Convention[1] and under the Multilateral Agreement relating to Route Charges concluded at Brussels on12th February 1981[1] (being international agreements to which the United Kingdom is a party), the Secretary of State for Transport has determined rates of charges, as specified in the following Regulations, payable to the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation in respect of navigation services provided for aircraft in the airspace hereinafter specified:
    Now, therefore, the Secretary of State for Transport in exercise of his powers under sections 73 and 74 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982[2] and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:—
    Citation and commencement
        1.    These Regulations may be cited as the Civil Aviation (Route Charges for Navigation Services) Regulations 1989 and shall come into force on 1st April 1989.
    Revocation
        2.    The Regulations specified in Schedule 1 hereto are hereby revoked.
    Interpretation
        3.—(1)  In these Regulations—
      "AIP" in relation to a country other than the United Kingdom means a document in force at the date of the making of these Regulations, entitled "Aeronautical Information Publication" or "AIP" and published by a public authority of that country;
      "Authorised person" means any constable or any person authorised by the CAA (whether by name or by class or description) either generally or in relation to a particular case or class of cases;
      "The CAA" means the Civil Aviation Authority;
      "FIR" means "Flight Information Region";
      "The Organisation" means the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation known as Eurocontrol;
      "Specified airspace" means the airspace of a FIR described as set forth in columns 1 and 2 of Schedule 2 hereto;
      "United Kingdom Air Pilot" means a document so entitled in force at the date of the making of these Regulations and published by the CAA.


        (2)  Expressions used in these Regulations shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the same respective meanings as in the Air Navigation Order 1985[3].
    Charge to be paid to the Organisation
        4.—(1)  Subject to the provisions of these Regulations the operator of any aircraft (in whatsoever State it is registered) for which navigation services (not being navigation services provided in connection with the use of an aerodrome) are made available in a specified airspace shall pay to the Organisation, in respect of each flight by that aircraft in that airspace, a charge for those services (hereinafter referred to as "the charge") at the appropriate rate calculated in accordance with regulation 6 or 7 of these Regulations, whichever shall apply in the circumstances.

        (2)  If the Organisation is unable, after taking reasonable steps, to ascertain who is the operator, it may give notice to the owner of the aircraft that it will treat him as the operator until he establishes to the reasonable satisfaction of the Organisation that some other person is the operator; and from the time when the notice is given the Organisation shall be entitled, for so long as the owner is unable to establish as aforesaid that some other person is the operator, to treat the owner as if he were the operator, and for that purpose the provisions of these Regulations (other than this paragraph) shall apply to the owner of the aircraft as if he were the operator.

        (3)  The operator of an aircraft shall not be required to pay any charge to the Organisation under these Regulations in respect of a flight if he has previously paid tothe Organisation in respect of that flight a charge of the same or a greater amount under the law of a country specified in column 1 of Schedule 2 hereto.
    Payment
        5.—(1)  The amount of the charge shall be payable to the Organisation at its principal office in Brussels and shall be paid in United States dollars.

        (2)  Without prejudice to any existing rule of law relating to the payment, under an order of the Court, of a debt expressed in foreign currency, the equivalent in Sterling of the charge may be recovered in any Court of competent jurisdiction in the United Kingdom.

        (3)  Nothing in this regulation shall prevent the Organisation from accepting as a good discharge payment in currencies other than United States dollars or at places other than the principal office of the Organisation.
    Calculation of the Charge
        6.—(1)  Except in the case of flights specified in regulation 7 of these Regulations, the charge shall be calculated in United States dollars according to the following formula—
    r =N × U

      where r is the charge for the flight, N is the number of service units relating to that flight and U is the appropriate unit rate specified in column 3 of Schedule 2 hereto in relation to the specified airspace through which the flight is made, increased or decreased as the case may be by the same percentage as the relevant national currency has increased or decreased against the United States dollar as compared with the rate of exchange specified in column 4 of the said Schedule in relation to that airspace.

        (2)  For the purpose of the preceding paragraph, the number of service units relating to a flight shall be calculated in accordance with the following formula—
    N =d × p

      where d is the distance factor for the flight in the specified airspace in question and p is the weight factor for the aircraft concerned.

        (3)  For the purposes of the preceding paragraph—
       (a) the distance factor shall be the number of kilometres in the great circle distance between the points specified in paragraph (4) of this regulation minus 20 kilometres for each landing and take-off in the specified airspace in question, divided by 100 and expressed to two places of decimals, and
       (b) the weight factor, subject to the provisions of paragraph (6) of this regulation, shall be equal to the square root of the quotient obtained by dividing by 50 the number of metric tonnes of the maximum total weight authorised of the aircraft and shall be expressed to two places of decimals.

        (4)  The points referred to in paragraph (3) of this regulation are:
       (a) the aerodrome of departure within the specified airspace in question or, if there is no such aerodrome, the point specified in paragraph (5) of this regulation as the standard point of entry into that airspace for the route in question or, in the case specified in the proviso to that paragraph, the actual point of entry into that airspace; and
       (b) the aerodrome of first destination within the specified airspace in question or, if there is no such aerodrome, the point specified in paragraph (5) of this regulation as the standard point of exit from that airspace for the route in question or, in the case specified in the proviso to that paragraph, the actual point of exit from that airspace.

        (5)  The standard points of entry and exit referred to in paragraph (4) of this regulation are the points, as described in the United Kingdom Air Pilot or relevant AIP as the case may be, where the median line of the appropriate airway or upper Air Traffic Service route so described crosses the boundary of the airspace.
      For the purposes of this paragraph, the appropriate airway or route, in the case of a flight made between 1st January and 31st December in any year, shall be—
         (a) the airway or route between the aerodrome of departure and the aerodrome of first destination which appears to the Organisation on 1st January of that year to be the most frequently used such airway or route; or
         (b) if the Organisation is unable to ascertain on 1st January of that year which such airway or route is the most frequently used, the shortest such airway or route:

      Provided that in the case of a flight in respect of which the aerodrome of departure or the aerodrome of first destination is situated in one of the zones specified in column 1 of Schedule 3 to these Regulations but that aerodrome is not specified in column 2 of the said Schedule the point of entry into or, as the case may be, of exit from the said airspace shall be the actual point where the flight in question crosses the lateral limits of that airspace as described in the United Kingdom Air Pilot or relevant AIP as the case may be.

        (6)  The weight factor for an aircraft of any type shall be calculated by reference to the maximum total weight authorised of the heaviest aircraft of that type:
      Provided that where an operator has indicated to the Organisation, within the period of one year immediately preceding the flight, the composition of the fleet of aircraft of which he disposes and that it includes two or more aircraft which are different versions of the same type of aircraft, the weight factor shall be calculated by reference to the average of the maximum total weight authorised of all his aircraft of that type so indicated to the Organisation.

        7.    The charge in relation to a flight which enters a specified airspace and in respect of which the aerodrome of departure or the aerodrome of first destination, as the case may be, is specified in column 2 of Schedule 3 hereto and the aerodrome of the first destination or the aerodrome of departure, as the case may be, is situated in any one of the zones specified in column 1 of that Schedule shall be calculated in United States dollars according to the following formula:—
    C =Z × p
    where C is the charge payable, Z is the charge specified in column 3 of the said Schedule (appropriate to the maximum total weight authorised of 50 metric tonnes) increased or decreased as the case may be by the same percentage as the relevant national currencieshave increased or decreased against the United States dollar as compared with the rate of exchange specified in column 4 of Schedule 2 hereto in relation to that airspace and p is the weight factor of the aircraft concerned determined in accordance with regulations 6(3)(b) and 6(6) of these Regulations.
        8.—(1)  For the purposes of regulations 6 and 7 the rate of exchange of the United States dollar to a national currency shall be the average monthly rate of exchange of the United States dollar to that national currency established by the International Monetary Fund and publication in the International Financial Statistics of the International Monetary Fund for the month preceding the month during which the flight takes place shall be conclusive evidence of that matter; and a document purporting to be the International Financial Statistics published by the International Monetary Fund shall in any proceedings be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such a document.

        (2)  In the event that the International Monetary Fund does not publish the International Financial Statistics for the month preceding the month during which the flight takes place, a certificate given by or on behalf of the Treasury stating the average monthly rate of exchange of the United States dollar to a national currency for the month preceding the month during which the flight takes place shall be conclusive evidence of that matter; and a document purporting to be such a certificate shall in any proceedings be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such a certificate.
    Exempt Flights
        9.    These Regulations shall not apply to the following flights—
       (i) flights by military aircraft;
       (ii) flights made for the purposes of search and rescue operations;
       (iii) flights by aircraft of which the maximum total weight authorised is 5700 kg or less made entirely in accordance with the Visual Flight Rules in the Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Control Regulations 1985[4];
       (iv) flights terminating at the aerodrome from which the aircraft has taken off;
       (v) flights other than the flights referred to in paragraph (i) of this regulation made by aircraft which are the property of a State (including customs and police aircraft) and which are not made for commercial purposes;
       (vi) flights made exclusively for the purpose of checking or testing equipment used or intended to be used as aids to air navigation;
       (vii) flights made exclusively for the purpose of instruction or testing of flight crew;(viii)flights made exclusively for the purpose of enabling an aircraft to qualify for the issue or renewal of a Certificate of Airworthiness or of the validation thereof or the approval of a modification of the aircraft, after an application has been made for such issue, renewal, validation or approval as the case may be;
       (ix) flights made by aircraft of which the maximum total weight authorised is less than two metric tonnes;
       (x) flights between points within the specified airspace of Austria;
       (xi) flights between points within the specified airspace of France;
       (xii) flights made by helicopters beween any point in the United Kingdom and an offshore installation within the area bounded by straight lines joining successively the following points—
        N6200 W00400; N6200 E00400; N5600 E00400; N5600 W00100; N5740 W00100; N5740 W00400; N6200 W00400.(xiii)flights made by helicopters between any point in the United Kingdom and an offshore installation within the area bounded by straight lines joining successively the following points—
        N5500 W00100; N5500 E00300; N5423 E00245; N5256 E00309; N5230 E00247; N5226 E00137; N5238 E00140; N5251 E00124; N5319 E00010; N5500 W00100.
    Detention and sale of aircraft for unpaid charges
        10.    Where default is made in the payment of charges incurred in respect of any aircraft under these Regulations the Organisation may require the CAA to act on behalf of the Organisation in accordance with the provisions of regulations 11 to 14 or any of them.
        11.    Where such a requirement has been made, the CAA or an authorised person may on behalf of the Organisation, subject to the provisions of this and the following Regulations, take such steps as are necessary to detain, pending payment, either—
       (a) the aircraft in respect of which the charges were incurred (whether or not they were incurred by the person who is the operator of the aircraft at the time when the detention begins); or
       (b) any other aircraft of which the person in default is the operator at the time when the detention begins;
    and if charges are not paid within 56 days of the date when the detention begins, the CAA may sell the aircraft on behalf of the Organisation in order to satisfy the charges.
        12.    The CAA or the authorised person concerned shall not detain, or continue to detain, an aircraft on behalf of the Organisation under these Regulations by reason of any alleged default in the payment of charges payable under these Regulations if the operator of the aircraft or any other person claiming an interest therein—
       (a) disputes that the charges, or any of them, are due or, if the aircraft is detained under regulation 11(a) of these Regulations, that the charges in question were incurred in respect of that aircraft; and
       (b) gives to the Organisation, pending the determination of the dispute, sufficient security for the payment of the charges which are alleged to be due.
        13.    The CAA shall not sell an aircraft on behalf of the Organisation under these Regulations without the leave of the court; and the court shall not give leave except on proof that a sum is due to the Organisation for charges under these Regulations, that default has been made in the payment thereof and that the aircraft which the Authority seeks leave to sell on behalf of the Organisation is liable to sale under these Regulations by reason of default.
        14.    The CAA shall, before applying to the court for leave to sell an aircraft on behalf of the Organisation under these Regulations, take such steps for bringing the proposed application to the notice of interested persons and for affording them an opportunity of becoming a party to the proceedings as are set forth in Schedule 4 to these Regulations. If such leave is given, the CAA shall secure that the aircraft is sold on behalf of the Organisation for the best price that can reasonably be obtained; but failure to comply with any requirement of this regulation or of the said Schedule in respect of any sale, while actionable as against the CAA at the suit of any person suffering loss in consequence thereof, shall not, after the sale has taken place, be a ground for impugning its validity.
        15.    The proceeds of any sale under these Regulations shall be applied as follows, and in the following order, that is to say—
       (a) in payment of any customs duty which is due in consequence of the aircraft having been brought into the United Kingdom;
       (b) in payment of the expenses incurred by the CAA in detaining, keeping and selling the aircraft, including its expenses in connection with the application to the court;
       (c) in payment of the charges in respect of any aircraft which the court has found to be due from the operator by virtue of these or any other Regulations under section 73 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982;
       (d) in payment of any airport charges incurred in respect of the aircraft which are due from the operator of the aircraft to the person owning or managing the aerodrome at which the aircraft was detained under these Regulations;
    and the surplus, if any, shall be paid to or among the person or persons whose interests in the aircraft have been divested by reason of the sale.
        16.    The power of detention and sale conferred by these Regulations in respect of an aircraft extends to the equipment of the aircraft and any stores for use in connection with its operation (being equipment and stores carried in the aircraft) whether or not the property of the person who is its operator, and references to the aircraft in regulations 11 to 15 of these Regulations include, except where the context otherwise requires, references to any such equipment and stores.
        17.    The power of detention conferred by these Regulations in respect of an aircraft extends to any aircraft documents carried in it, and any such documents may, if the aircraft is sold under these Regulations, be transferred by the CAA to the purchaser.
        18.    The power conferred by these Regulations to detain an aircraft may be exercised on any occasion when the aircraft is on an aerodrome to which section 88 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 for the time being applies.
        19.    Nothing in these Regulations shall prejudice any right of the Organisation to recover any charges, or any part thereof, by action.



Peter Bottomley

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Transport

2nd March 1989




Notes:

[1] Cmnd. 8662.

[2] 1982 c. 16; section 73(4) was amended by section 3(2) of the Civil Aviation (Eurocontrol) Act 1983 (c. 11).

[3] S.I. 1985/1643, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[4] S.I. 1985/1714, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

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