Explanatory Statement
Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998
Exemption — Airbus A380 runway and taxiway width
Legislation
Subsection 98 (1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) empowers the Governor-General may make Regulations for the purposes of the Act and in the interests of the safety of air navigation.
Subregulation 139.020 (1) of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 provides that CASA may, by instrument, exempt an aerodrome operator from compliance with specified standards set out in the Manual of Standards Part 139 (MOS 139). Paragraph 6.2.3.1 of MOS 139 provides that the width of a runway must not be less than that determined by using Table 6.2-1 of MOS 139. Table 6.2-1 of MOS 139 provides that a Code F aeroplane must have a minimum runway width of 60 metres.
The Airbus A380 is an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aerodrome reference code letter F aeroplane, and would normally be required to operate at aerodromes with physical characteristics that comply with code letter F standards. The Airbus A380 was certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency last year, and recently by the US Federal Aviation Administration (US FAA) to be capable of safely operating on a 45 metre wide runway.
ICAO has provided guidance material to show that existing code letter E runways can be used for Airbus A380 operations on condition that a blast proof area, at least 7.5 metres wide is provided at the edge of the runway shoulders, to prevent foreign object damage to the aeroplane.
Evidence from Airbus indicates the Airbus A380 has a similar footprint to the Boeing B747, a code letter E aeroplane, as it has similar ground manoeuvring tolerances to the Boeing B747 and is fitted with cameras to facilitate taxiing and parking. The US FAA certification exercise also found the aircraft could be safely taxied on a 23 metre wide taxiway. In this respect CASA does not believe that safety would be compromised by the operation into Sydney (Kingsford Smith) International Airport.
CASA has a project to change the current aerodrome standards MOS 139 to allow the Airbus A380 to operate on a code letter E 45 metre wide runway, together with a 7.5 metre wide blast proof area on each side of the runway shoulders, and to operate on a code letter E 23 metre wide taxiway. The instrument is an interim measure. It exempts the operator of Sydney (Kingsford Smith) International Airport and operations in Australia of the Airbus A380 type aeroplane from the requirements of specified standards set out in the MOS 139. The instrument also exempts each of the operators of Adelaide International Airport, Brisbane International Airport and Melbourne International Airport (alternate aerodromes) from specified requirements when used instead of Sydney (Kingsford Smith) International Airport for landing and take off operations of the Airbus A380.
Legislative Instruments Act
Under paragraph 5 (2) (a) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (LIA), an instrument is of a legislative character if it determines the law or alters the content of the law. The MOS 139 is a legislative instrument for section 5 of the LIA. The exemption is, therefore, a legislative instrument and it is subject to tabling and disallowance in the Parliament under sections 38 and 42 of the LIA.
Consultation
Consultation under section 17 of the LIA is still in progress. The instrument is an interim measure to allow scheduled operations to proceed.
The instrument commences on the day after registration, and stops having effect at the end of 30 September 2008.
The exemption has been made by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Strategy and Support, a delegate of CASA, in accordance with subregulation 7 (1) of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988.
[Instrument number CASA EX45/07]