§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on what legal basis NATS charges private aircraft weighing less than 100 tonnes for night and IFR flights outside controlled airspace.
600W
§ Mr. JamiesonIn accordance with section 73 of the Transport Act 2000, the Civil Aviation Authority specifies the charges which are to be paid by users of air traffic services. These charges are published in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes, and are to be paid to Eurocontrol or to National Air Traffic Services Ltd. (NATS), depending on where the flight to which they relate took place. The Eurocontrol route charges system, of which the UK is a member, exempts flights performed by aircraft of which the Maximum Take-Off Weight Authorised is less than two metric tonnes, but provides that flights made under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) shall be subject to charges. Member states of the Eurocontrol route charges system have discretion as to whether to exempt flights made under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and the UK does exempt these flights where they are undertaken by aircraft of which the maximum total weight authorised is 5.7 metric tonnes or less. This has been UK practice for many years.