§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what debts were owed to the Civil Aviation Authority by Sultan Air at the time of its receivership; and if these debts have now been recovered; [33534]
(2) what action was taken by the Civil Aviation Authority as a result of the ruling by the High Court on 10 October 1994 in relation to flights operated by Air Operations of Europe; [33530]
(3) if he will list the occasions when aircraft operated by (a) Omega Air, (b) Sultan Air and (c) Air Operations of Europe have been detained by the Civil Aviation Authority at the request of Eurocontrol for non-payment of fees. [33532]
§ Mr. NorrisSultan Air left no outstanding debts to the authority at the time of its receivership.
On 10 October 1994, the High Court ruled that Air Operations of Europe had been the operator of aircraft HR-AMC at the time of its detention. The CAA obtained an order of sale against the aircraft, and at a further hearing on 14 November 1994, the High Court ruled that unless payment of outstanding route charges and the 34W CAA's costs was made by 21 November 1994, the CAA would be at liberty to proceed with the sale of the aircraft. The route charges were paid and the aircraft was released from detention on 16 November, but remains grounded for safety reasons.
The CAA has no record of detention action against Omega Air at the request of Eurocontrol.
An aircraft operated by Sultan Air was detained for unpaid route charges on 16 October 1991, and released on 21 February 1992.
As I have explained, the aircraft detained on 22 October 1993 and released on 16 November 1994 was operated by Air Operations of Europe.