EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CIVIL AVIATION ACT 1988
CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS 1988
EXEMPTION RELATING TO CERTAIN AERODROMES IN THE TORRES STRAIT AND CAPE YORK PENINSULA AREA — REGULATION 92A
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act and in relation to the safety of air navigation.
Regulation 308 of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988) provides that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) may exempt an aircraft, or persons associated with the operation of an aircraft, from compliance with the provisions of CAR 1988. Such an exemption is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.
Under regulation 92A of CAR 1988, an aircraft engaged in regular public transport (RPT) operations must not, among other things, take off or land at an aerodrome which is not a licensed aerodrome. An aerodrome cannot be licensed unless it meets strict criteria. Many of the remote aerodromes on the Torres Strait islands and on Cape York Peninsula do not meet these criteria. In the past charter operators have provided a passenger service to these remote localities. However, after recent surveillance of the operators by CASA, it became obvious that the charter operators were actually providing an RPT service and not engaging in mere charter operations. As the operator’s air operators’ certificates did not cover such operations, these operators have been required to cease RPT services. This has had social ramifications in view of the isolation of the communities involved.
To overcome these problems, CASA has amended section 82.3 of the Civil Aviation Orders (CAOs) to permit RPT operations at aerodromes (“special category aerodromes”) that meet a lesser criteria than that applicable to normal RTP operations. The list of “special category aerodromes” has been substantially increased by a recent amendment of section 82.3 of the CAOs. It has therefore been necessary to issue a revised instrument under regulation 308 of CAR 1988 to exempt RPT operations to these aerodromes from the provisions of regulation 92A. The attached instrument refers to the amended list which has been included in section 82.3 of the CAOs.
The exemption has been signed by the Director of Aviation Safety, on behalf of CASA, under section 84A of the Act. The exemption came into effect on gazettal.
[Exemption Number CASA 09/1999]