S.I. No. 4/1998:

IRISH AVIATION AUTHORITY (EUROCONTROL) (CONSOLIDATED ROUTE CHARGES) REGULATIONS, 1998

IRISH AVIATION AUTHORITY (EUROCONTROL) (CONSOLIDATED ROUTE CHARGES) REGULATIONS, 1998

The Irish Aviation Authority, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by sections 10 , 43 and 49 of the Irish Aviation Authority Act, 1993 (No. 29 of 1993), hereby makes the following regulations (the charges thereunder having been determined by it in pursuance of tariffs approved of under an international agreement to which the State is a party):

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Irish Aviation Authority (Eurocontrol) (Consolidated Route Charges) Regulations, 1998 and shall come into operation on the 12^th day of January, 1998.

2. In these Regulations--

"contracting state" means a state which is not a member state, but which has, by way of special agreement, entrusted Eurocontrol with the collection, on its behalf, of charges for air navigation services provided by it in the airspace for which it has responsibility;

"member state" means a state which is a member state of Eurocontrol and which is a party to the multilateral agreement relating to charges for route air navigation facilities and services which was signed on behalf of the Government at Brussels on the 8^th day of September, 1970;

"flight level" means a surface of constant atmospheric pressure which is related to a specific pressure datum, 1013.2 hectopascals (hPa) and is separated from other such surfaces by specific pressure intervals;

"maximum authorised weight" refers, in relation to an aircraft, to the maximum permissible loaded weight, expressed in metric tons, authorised by the certificate of airworthiness of the aircraft, the flight manual or other equivalent document;

"military aircraft" means aircraft used in military service and includes naval, military and air force aircraft, and every aircraft commanded by a person in naval, military or air force service;

"Eurocontrol" has the meaning assigned to it by the Irish Aviation Authority Act, 1993 (No. 29 of 1993);

"the, relevant airspace" means the airspace the lateral and vertical extent of which are as follows:

(a) the lateral extent shall be the area provided by straight lines joining the following co-ordinates:

(i) 5520N 0655W -- 5525N 0720W

5520N 0815W -- 5445N 0900W

5434N 1000W -- 5400N 1500W

5100N 1500W -- 5100N 0800W

5220N 0530W -- 5355N 0530W

5425N 0810W -- 5520N 0655W

(ii) 5100N 1500W -- 5100N 0800W

4830N 0800W -- 4900N 1500W

5100N 1500W

(b) (i) the vertical extent in subparagraph (a) (i) of this paragraph shall extend from ground level with no upper limit, and

(ii) the vertical extent in subparagraph (a) (ii) of this paragraph shall extend from Flight Level 55 with no upper limit.

3. (1) Subject to these Regulations, the operator of an aircraft for which air navigation services (not being air navigation services provided in connection with the use of an aerodrome) are made available in the relevant airspace shall pay to Eurocontrol 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 5 of these Regulations.

(2) Where Eurocontrol 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 Eurocontrol that some other person is the operator, and from the time when the notice is given Eurocontrol 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.

4. (1) The amount of the charge shall be payable to Eurocontrol at its principal office in Brussels.

(2) The amount of the charge shall be paid in European Currency Units.

(3) The equivalent in currency of the State of the charge shall be recoverable in any court of competent jurisdiction in the State.

(4) Nothing in the Regulation shall prevent Eurocontrol from accepting as a good discharge payment in currencies other than European Currency Units or at a place other than the principal office of Eurocontrol.

(5) Any charge which has not been paid by the due date shall be increased by the addition of interest, calculated from the due date.

(6) The rate of interest applied shall be determined in accordance with the Multilateral Agreement relating to Route Charges, signed at Brussels on the 12^th day of February, 1981.

(7) Notice of the rate of interest shall be published in Iris Oifigiuil as soon as may be after the rate has been ascertained.

(8) For the purpose of calculating interest the due date shall be the date specified on the bill as the date by which payment must be effected.

5. (1) (a) The charge shall be calculated according to the following formula:

r = N x unit rate

where r is the charge for the flight, N is the number of service units relating to the flight and the unit rate is the rate expressed as an amount in European Currency Units applied by Eurocontrol on the first day of each month and is recalculated monthly by applying the average monthly rate of exchange (being the average of the daily rates of exchange over the month) of the European Currency Unit to the Irish Pound for the month preceding the month during which the flight takes place. The exchange rate applied shall be the monthly average of the "Closing Cross Rate" calculated by REUTERS based on the daily BID rate.

(b) Notice of the amount of the unit rate shall be published in Iris Oifigiuil as soon as may be after the rate has been ascertained and a copy of the said Iris Ofigiuil purporting to contain any such notice shall be received in evidence and shall be sufficient evidence of the amount of the said unit rate in any legal proceedings in the State relating to the charge.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the number of service units relating to a flight shall be calculated in accordance with the following formula:

N = d x p

where d is the distance factor for the flight and p is the weight factor for the aircraft involved.

(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 relevant airspace, divided by 100 and expressed to two places of decimals, and

(b) the weight factor, subject to 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 in the maximum authorised weight 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 relevant airspace or the point of entry into that airspace and

(b) the aerodrome of first destination within the relevant airspace or the point of exit from that airspace.

(c) the point of entry into or, as the case may be, of exit from the relevant airspace shall be the point at which the lateral limits of the said airspace are crossed by the route described in the flight plan.

(d) For the purposes of this Regulation, the term "flight plan" incorporates any changes made by the operator to the flight plan initially filed as well as any changes approved by the operator resulting from air traffic flow management measures.

(5) (a) The weight factor shall be the square root of the quotient obtained by dividing by fifty (50) the number of metric tonnes in the maximum certificated take-off weight of the aircraft as set out in the certificate of airworthiness, the flight manual or any other equivalent official document, as follows:

where maximum certificated take-off weight of the aircraft is not known to Eurocontrol, the weight factor shall be calculated by taking the weight of the heaviest aircraft of that type known to exist.

(b) Where, however, an operator has indicated to Eurocontrol that the composition of the fleet of aircraft of which he disposes includes two or more aircraft which are different versions of the same type, the average of the maximum take-off weight of all his aircraft of that type shall be used for the calculation of the weight factor for each aircraft of that type, and this calculation of the weight factor in respect of each aircraft type and each operator shall be effected at least once in every year.

6. These Regulations shall not apply to

(a) nights by military aircraft of member states,

(b) flights by military aircraft of a state other than a member state in so far as there is in force, at the time the flight is made, a bilateral or multilateral agreement or other arrangement providing for exemption from the charge for overflight of national territory by such aircraft to which that state and the State are parties,

(c) search and rescue flights performed on the responsibility of a search and rescue body established by one or more states,

(d) flights made entirely in accordance with the visual flight rules contained in Part III of the Air Navigation (Rules of the Air) Order, 1992 ( S.I. No. 52 of 1992 ),

(e) flights terminating at the aerodrome from which the aircraft has taken off and during which no intermediate landing has been made,

(f) flights performed exclusively for the transport, on official mission, of a reigning Monarch and his/her immediate family, Heads of State, Heads of Government, and Government Ministers; the nature of the flight being substantiated by the appropriate status indicator on the flight plan,

(g) training flights performed exclusively for the purpose of obtaining a licence or, in the case of cockpit flight crew, a rating, where this is substantiated by an appropriate remark on the flight plan; such flights must be performed solely within the airspace of the State and must not serve for the transport of passengers and / or cargo, nor for positioning or ferrying of the aircraft,

(h) flights performed by aircraft of which the maximum authorised weight is less than two metric tons.

7. The Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) (Route Charges) Regulations, 1989 to 1990 and the Irish Aviation Authority (Eurocontrol) (Route Charges) Regulations 1994 to 1997 are hereby revoked.

Given under the Common Seal of The Irish Aviation Authority, this 12th day of January 1998.

Present when the Common Seal of The Irish Aviation Authority was affixed hereto

J Lacey

Director

Aideen Gahan

Secretary

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations, which will come into operation on 12 January, 1998, re-enact, in consolidated form and with amendments, the Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) (Route Charges) Regulations 1989 to 1990 and the Irish Aviation Authority (Eurocontrol) Regulations, 1994 to 1997.

Under these Regulations, charges for air navigation services will be calculated on the basis of the route actually flown rather than the most commonly used route.