Explanatory Statement
Civil Aviation Act 1988
Civil Aviation Order 82.5 Amendment Order (No. 1) 2005
Under paragraph 28BA (1) (b) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act), an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) has effect subject to any conditions specified in the regulations or the Civil Aviation Orders (the CAOs).
Part 82 of the CAOs specifies conditions on Air Operators’ Certificates. Section 82.5 contains conditions on AOCs authorising regular public transport (RPT) operations in high capacity aircraft. Subparagraph 5.2 (d) of CAO 82.5 imposes the condition that night operations may only be conducted from an aerodrome that is “equipped with” a navigation aid.
The condition that the aerodrome must be “equipped with” a navigation aid precludes the use of an aerodrome where a ground-based navigation aid is unserviceable but the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is available to ensure safe navigation. The GNSS is a satellite navigation system used by a pilot on board an aircraft to determine position from satellite data. Use of the GNSS is as safe as, if not safer than, use of a serviceable ground-based navigation aid. However, an aerodrome is not “equipped with” GNSS as such.
In effect the Order amends paragraph 5.2 of CAO 82.5 to provide that an operator must ensure that night operations may only be conducted from an aerodrome “for which there is a serviceable and available navigation aid”. A Note explains that a navigation aid includes the GNSS.
Legislative Instruments Act
Under subsection 98 (4A) of the Act, CAOs made for the purposes of section 28BA of the Act are declared to be disallowable instruments. Under subparagraph 6 (d) (i) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (the LIA), an instrument is a legislative instrument for section 5 of the LIA if it is declared to be a disallowable instrument under legislation in force before the commencement of the LIA. The Order 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
Formal consultation under section 17 of the LIA was not undertaken in this case. The amendment is essentially a technical improvement in the drafting of the existing provision to avoid an unintended limitation in its scope. The purpose of the amendment is to enable use of the GNSS by all relevant high capacity RPT operators in night operations. There was, however, informal consultation with, and no objection from, the chief pilots and chief maintenance engineers of the major air transport operators who participate in CASA’s Heavy Industry consultation meetings.
The Order is minor or machinery in nature and will not substantially alter existing arrangements. For these reasons, the Office of Regulation Review does not require a Regulation Impact Statement.
The instrument commences on the day after it is registered.
The CAO has been made by the Director of Aviation Safety, on behalf of CASA, in accordance with subsection 84A (2) of the Act.
[Civil Aviation Order 82.5 Amendment Order (No. 1) 2005]