- Laws of Fiji

Last Updated: 1 December 2016

[CIA 3] Power to give effect to Chicago Convention, Cape Town Convention and regulate air navigation3

(1) The Minister may make such regulations as may appear to him or her to be requisite or expedient—

(a)for carrying out the Convention on International Civil Aviation 1944 (hereinafter referred to as the Chicago Convention) and any Annex thereto relating to international standards and recommended practices (being an Annex adopted in accordance with the Convention) and any amendment of the Convention or any such Annex made in accordance with the Convention; or
(b)generally for regulating air navigation.
(c)for carrying out and giving effect to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment made at Cape Town on 16 November 2001, the Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment in Matters Specific to Air Craft Equipment made at Cape Town on 16 November 2001 and the Civil Aviation (Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment) Act 2012 hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Cape Town Convention”.

[subs (1) am Decree 2 of 2013 s 2, effective 15 January 2013]

(2) The Minister may make provision by regulations—

(a)as to the registration of aircraft and the recognition and enforcement of international interests therein as provided for by the Cape Town Convention in Fiji;
(b)for prohibiting aircraft from flying unless certificates of air-worthiness issued or validated under regulations are in force in respect to them and except upon compliance with such conditions as to maintenance or repair as may be specified in regulations or otherwise;
(c)for the regulation of aerodromes and places where aircrafts have landed and for access to buildings for the purpose of inspecting work carried on in them in relation to aircraft, aircraft parts; aircraft equipment or the operation of aircraft;
(d)for prohibiting persons from engaging in, or being employed in or in connection with, air navigation in such capacities as may be specified in regulations except in accordance with provisions in that behalf, and for the licensing of those employed at airports licensed under regulations in the inspection or supervision of aircraft;
(e)as to the conditions under which, and in particular the airports to or from which, aircraft entering or leaving Fiji may fly, and as to the conditions under which aircraft may fly from one part of Fiji to another;
(f)as to the conditions under which passengers and goods may be carried by air and under which aircraft may be used for other commercial, industrial or gainful purposes, and for prohibiting the carriage by air, of goods of such classes as may be specified in the regulations;
(g)for minimising or preventing interference with the use of or effectiveness of apparatus used in connection with air navigation, and for prohibiting or regulating the use of such apparatus as aforesaid and the display of signs and lights liable to endanger aircraft;
(h)for minimising or preventing interference from electrical apparatus in the vicinity of aeronautical telecommunications and radio navigational ground installations;
(i)generally for securing the safety, efficiency and regularity of air navigation and the safety of aircraft and of persons and property carried thereon, for preventing aircraft endangering other persons and property and, in particular, for the detention of aircraft for any of the purposes specified in this paragraph;
(j)for requiring persons engaged in, or employed in or in connection with, air navigation to supply meteorological information for the purposes of air navigation;
(k)for regulating the making of signals and other communications by or to aircraft and persons carried therein;
(l)for regulating the use of the civil air ensign established in Fiji;
(m)for prohibiting aircraft from flying over such areas in Fiji as may be specified by notification;
(n)for applying, adapting or modifying, or enabling any other Minister to apply, adapt or modify, the enactments relating to customs in relation to airports and to aircraft and to persons or property carried therein and for preventing smuggling by air;
(o)as to the manner and conditions of the issue, validation, renewal, extension or variation of any certificate, licence or other document required by regulations, including the examination and tests to be undergone, and as to the form, custody, production, cancellation, suspension, endorsement and surrender of any such document;
(p)for prescribing the fees to be paid in respect of the issue, validation, renewal, extension or variation of any certificate, licence or other document or the undergoing of any examination or test required by, or in pursuance of regulations, or in respect of any other matter in respect of which it appears to the Minister to be expedient to charge fees;
(q)for exempting from any provisions of any regulations any aircraft or persons or classes of aircraft or persons;
(r)for regulating or prohibiting the flight of aircraft over Fiji at speeds in excess of MACH 1;
(s)for the certification of aviation service providers.

[subs (2) am Act 16 of 1999 s 17 effective 12 April 1999; Promulgation 7 of 2008 s 3, effective 1 October 2008; Decree 2 of 2013 s 2 effective 15 January 2013]

(3) Any regulations made under this section may make different provisions with respect to different classes of aircraft, airports, persons or property and with respect to different parts of Fiji but shall so far as practicable, be so framed as not to discriminate in like circumstances between aircraft registered in Fiji operated by one air transport undertaking and aircraft operated by another such undertaking.

(4) Any regulations made under this section may, for the purpose of securing compliance with the provisions thereof, provide for the imposition of penalties not exceeding a fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years, or to both such fine and imprisonment and in the case of any provision having effect by virtue of subsection (2)(i), may also for the purpose provide for the taking of such steps, including firing on aircraft, as may be specified in the regulations.

[subs (4) am Act 16 of 1999 s 17, effective 12 April 1999; Promulgation 7 of 2008 s 3, effective 1 October 2008]

[s 3 am Decree 2 of 2013 s 2, effective 15 January 2013]