S.I. No. 326/1993 - Air Services Authorisation Order, 1993.

S.I. No. 326 of 1993.

AIR SERVICES AUTHORISATION ORDER, 1993.

I, BRIAN COWEN, Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 7 of the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1965 (No. 6 of 1965), and the Tourism, Transport and Communications (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1993 ( S.I. No. 17 of 1993 ), hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Air Services Authorisation Order, 1993, and shall come into operation on the 1st day of December, 1993.

2. In this Order—

"the Council Regulation" means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2408/92 of 23 July 1992^1;

"inclusive tour" means a round trip which is performed in whole or in part by air for a comprehensive price and which includes arrangements other than transport to and from the point of origin of the trip;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications;

"undertaking" means any natural person, any legal person, whether profit-making or not, or any official body whether having its own legal personality or not.

3. Subject to Article 4 of this Order, there are hereby authorised—

( a ) air services consisting of non-stop flights over the territory of the State by aircraft of a Contracting State to the Convention on International Civil Aviation done at Chicago on the 7th day of December, 1944, in transit and not engaged on a international scheduled service, and landings for non-traffic purposes by such aircraft at airports in the State,

¹ O.J. No. L240, 24.8.92, pp. 8-14.

( b ) air services consisting of non-stop flights over the territory of the State by aircraft of a Contracting State to the International Air Services Transit Agreement done at Chicago on the 7th day of December, 1944, engaged on an international scheduled service, and landings for non-traffic purposes by such aircraft at airports in the State,

( c ) air services consisting of flights to which the Multilateral Agreement on Commercial Rights of Non-scheduled Air Services in Europe, done at Paris on the 13th day of April, 1956, applies,

( d ) air services operated by an undertaking in accordance with the provisions of the Council Regulation,

( e ) air services operated by an undertaking designated and agreed upon under the provisions of any bilateral agreement made either before or after the coming into operation of this Order between the State and any other State,

( f ) air services operated to, from or over the territory of the State in pursuance of an authorisation to proceed issued by the organisation (or the commission or agency comprised therein) established by the International Convention relating to Cooperation for the Safety of Air Navigation, signed at Brussels on the 13th day of December, 1960,

( g ) air services operated for humanitarian or emergency purposes;

( h ) air services operated for any purpose other than trade or business (including the trade or business of the person operating the service), and

( i ) air services consisting of non-scheduled flights to, from or within the territory of the State by aircraft not exceeding 13,620 kgs maximum authorised weight and not operated for the carriage of passengers, cargo or mail for reward.

4. (1) This Order shall not apply to any aircraft taking off from, landing in or flying over the territory of the State if the aircraft is destined to land in or has taken off from the territory of Libya, except when the aircraft is engaged in a particular flight which has been approved on grounds of significant humanitarian need by the Committee established by paragraph 9 of Resolution 748 (1992) of the United Nations Security Council.

(2) If the Minister is not satisfied that an undertaking operating an air service referred to in Article 3 is competent as respects experience, financial resources, equipment, organisation, staffing, maintenance and operating procedures, to secure the safe operating of the aircraft used in the operating of the service and the Minister so notifies the undertaking, Article 3 of this Order shall not apply in relation to the air service during the period from the giving of the notification to the time (if at all) when the Minister notifies the undertaking that he is satisfied that the undertaking is competent in respect of the matters aforesaid.

5. An undertaking operating an air service authorised by Article 3 of this Order shall—

( a ) notify the Minister of any inclusive tours it proposes to provide,

( b ) where any such tour is originating in the State, ensure that it is being provided by it under a contract to which it is a party with a Tour Operator licensed to carry on business as a tour operator under the Transport (Tour Operators and Travel Agents) Act, 1982 (No. 3 of 1982), and

( c ) produce to the Minister, at his request, a copy of the contract referred to at paragraph (b) of this Article.

6. (1) An undertaking operating or proposing to operate an air service in accordance with this Order shall, if so required by the Minister, provide such evidence as may satisfy him that the undertaking—

( a ) holds an operating licence from the aeronautical authorities of the State in which it is established, and

( b ) in case the undertaking is established in a State other than one to which the Council Regulation applies, has adequate insurance to cover liability in case of accidents and, in particular, accidents involving passengers, luggage, cargo, mail and third parties.

(2) In this Article "operating licence" means an authorisation granted by the aeronautical authorities of the State in which the undertaking is established to an undertaking permitting it to carry out carriage by air of one or more of the following, that is to say, passengers, mail or cargo, as stated in the operating licence, for either remuneration or hire or both.

7. (1) An officer of the Minister authorised in writing by the Minister for that purpose may (subject to the production by him, if so required by any person affected, of his authorisation) at all reasonable times enter on and inspect aircraft and premises used or proposed to be used in connection with the operation of an air service of the kind specified in Article 3 of this Order and may there—

( a ) remain on an aircraft about to commence a flight and enter and inspect the flight deck thereof before or during the flight,

( b ) inspect any documents or records the inspection of which he may reasonably consider to be necessary for the purposes of this Order and make copies of or take extracts from the documents or records, and

( c ) require any undertaking to give him information which he may reasonably consider necessary for the purposes of this Order.

(2) A person—

( a ) shall not obstruct or impede the exercise of any power conferred by this Article,

( b ) shall give to an officer of the Minister authorised under this Article any information within his knowledge which the officer requires under this Article, and

( c ) shall not, in giving any such information, give information which, to his knowledge, is false or misleading in any material particular.

8. (1) An air service authorised by Article 3 of this Order shall be operated in such manner as to comply with the provisions of the Air Navigations and Transport Acts, 1936 to 1988 and the Air Transport Act, 1986 , as appropriate.

(2) An air service authorised by paragraph (a) of the said Article 3 shall be operated in such manner as to comply with the provisions of the Convention referred to in that paragraph.

(3) An air service authorised by paragraph (b), (c) or (e) of the said Article 3 shall be operated in such manner as to comply with the provisions of the appropriate agreement referred to in the said paragraph (b), (c), or (e), as the case may be.

(4) An air service authorised by paragraph (d) of the said Article 3 shall be operated is such manner as to comply with the provisions of the Council Regulation.

9. The Air Services Authorisation Order, 1966 ( S.I. No. 95 of 1966 ), as amended by the Air Services Authorisation (Amendment) Order, 1976 ( S.I. No. 201 of 1976 ), the European Communities (Sharing of Passenger Capacity and Access to Scheduled Air Service Routes) Regulations, 1991 ( S.I. No. 53 of 1991 ), the European Communities (Operation of Air Cargo Services) Regulations, 1992 ( S.I. No. 11 of 1992 ), and the Air Services Authorisation (Amendment) Order, 1992 ( S.I. No. 92 of 1992 ), is hereby revoked.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 21st day of October, 1993.

BRIAN COWEN,

Minister for Transport, Energy

and Communications.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The purpose of this Order is to grant a general authorisation for certain categories of air services including those operated in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2408/92 and those governed by International Conventions and Agreements. The Order also gives effect to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 945/92 on the prohibition of trade between the EC and Libya as it applies to civil aviation.