Summary of Civil Aviation Act 2023 changes

What’s changed?

The 2023 Act introduces a modern registration regime for airports, and, for some airports, a requirement called a regulatory airport spatial undertaking (RASU).

It replaces the airport authority process under the Airport Authorities Act 1966 with a modern airport registration system. Changes include:

• A simpler airport registration approval process replacing the previous process of approval by the Governor-General under Order in Council.
• New requirements to determine who should be able to register as an airport operator.
• A new public register of airports on the Ministry of Transport website for those airport operators that meet the requirements.
• Registration will continue to be voluntary except for airports where government agencies routinely operate (these are generally the larger airports).
• Registered airport operators need to consult stakeholders and government agencies before approving land or infrastructure development plans and spatial plans (e.g. master plans).

The Act updates and carries over some rights and obligations from the Airport Authorities regime. These include access to land acquisition powers, consultation on charges, price setting, information disclosure, leasing, and other rights and obligations for managing their airports. There is a five-year transition period before the term Airport Authorities Act 1966 is repealed in April 2030.

For more information about airport operator registration, go to: Airport Operator (transport.govt.nz)

Find out more about Airport Authority Status. 

What’s changed?

Airport operators can make bylaws under the 2023 Act about most of the same things were allowed under the Airport Authorities Act 1966, except for bylaws affecting roads within the meaning of the Land Transport Act 1998.  For these roads airport operators can use Land Transport Act bylaw-making powers because they are a “road controlling authority” under that Act.

Previously, airport bylaws had to be approved by the Minister of Transport or the Governor-General (by Order in Council). This approval is no longer needed under the 2023 Act, but airport operators have a requirement to consult the Secretary for Transport, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Police, government agencies operating at the airport (if the bylaw may be relevant to them) and people who could be affected by the bylaw. 

The Ministry of Transport’s role under the 2023 Act changes from supporting airports to get the bylaw approved, to giving feedback to airport operators about proposed bylaws.

The Minister of Transport has the power under the 2023 Act to amend, replace or disallow a bylaw (wholly or in part) if it is inconsistent with any enactment, or unreasonable or undesirable to the extent that it relates to or may affect traffic.

For more information about airport bylaws, go to: Airport Bylaws (transport.govt.nz)

What’s changed?

The Civil Aviation Act 2023 introduces a new requirement on airport operators to consult when they propose to approve a spatial plan for the airport. There was previously no requirement to consult.

The purpose of this new obligation is to provide greater clarity about airports’ plans, and to help inform future policy work and/or changes to regulatory settings.  It doesn’t mandate any specific form of spatial planning - airport operators will undertake planning that is fit for purpose for their aerodrome.

For more information about airport spatial plans, go to: Airport Spatial Plans (transport.govt.nz)

What’s changed?

The Act contains provisions which provide for a more robust regime for the authorisation of airline cooperative arrangements, including:

• setting a clear requirement that the Minister assess whether the arrangements will result in a benefit to the public that would outweigh any lessening in competition, taking into account the main and additional purposes of the Act.
• providing for a time limit and conditions to be attached to any approval (and for approval to be varied or revoked).

What’s changed?

The 2023 Act introduces a revised licensing framework for scheduled international flights that simplifies the airline licensing process. The framework removes the previous separate category of open aviation market licence and amalgamates provisions for issuing licences to New Zealand and foreign airlines.

The Act 2023 moves responsibility for licensing New Zealand airlines on routes where there is no 
limit on capacity to the Secretary, rather than the Minister, being the licensing authority because there is no allocation decision involved in these types of licences.

What’s changed?

Under the Civil Aviation Act 1990, all non-scheduled flights are required to be authorised.

This changes under the 2023 Act, where non-scheduled international flights only require licencing if:

• the non-scheduled flight arrives and departs from different ports in New Zealand (because an air operator certificate will be required if the non-scheduled flight involves more than two landings or take-offs)
• the flight routing or frequency would require the operator to hold a certificate (AOC or FAOC) under the Civil Aviation Rules, or
• the operator holds a scheduled international air service licence, but the licence does not provide for the proposed routing of the non-scheduled commercial international flight.

There is no requirement for authorisation to operate the flight if the non-scheduled flight has one arrival in New Zealand and departs from that same airport, with no domestic flights in between, within a 28-day period.

What’s changed?

The 2023 Act gives effect to a number of substantive new processes and provisions, including the provision to set out monitoring Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) requirements put in place by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The 2023 Act will give effect to CORSIA in primary legislation by January 2027, when it becomes mandatory. Currently New Zealand complies with CORSIA by way of a Memorandum of Understanding with Air NZ.  

For more information about CORSIA, go to: CORSIA (transport.govt.nz)

All the Civil Aviation Rules have been updated to align with the 2023 Act, without changing the intent or impacting certificated participants’ compliance.

The pending rules are now on the CAA website to give aviation participants visibility of them prior to the Act coming into effect on 5 April 2025.

See the pending rules and learn more about the process, on the Civil Aviation Authority’s website.

The criteria for granting an exemption under the new Act are slightly different from those under the 1990 Act, although we expect the outcomes will be similar.

Learn more about the criteria for granting an exemption on the Civil Aviation Authority’s website  

The Act requires some aviation sector participants to produce drug and alcohol management plans (DAMPs) which introduce random drug testing for safety sensitive workers.

CAA has produced a new Aviation Rule Part (Part 99), Transport Instrument, Advisory Circular, and a template to provide participants with the tools to develop their DAMPs.

Participants have until 5 April 2027 to develop DAMPs and have them approved by the CAA. To read about the CAA's timeframes for submitting DAMPs for approval, go to: Timeframes for submitting DAMPS for approval (aviation.govt.nz)

The Act also allows the CAA Director to conduct drug and alcohol testing, and CAA is working through how this may be introduced after 5 April 2027.

To read more about drug and alcohol management, go to: Drug and alcohol management (aviation.govt.nz)

The Act introduces new provisions to meet the changing face of aviation. It updates the powers of inspectors, and it makes changes to exemptions, including adding new types of exemptions and adjusting the criteria for granting them.

It also offers some protections from enforcement actions for individuals who voluntarily report incidents.

Civil Aviation Authority is developing policies and procedures to implement the Act’s provisions and will publish more detail on the changes closer to 5 April 2025.

Generally speaking, the Act modernises the provisions for aviation safety, rather than making any drastic changes.

The Act introduces several measures to improve security arrangements. These include:

• Clarifying security officers’ powers, protections and tools.
• Expanding the aviation security regime to enable short term additional security measures at airports in response to heightened threats.
• Giving the Minister of Transport the authority to consider national security when dealing with the aviation system.

To read more about aviation security, go to: Aviation security (aviation.govt.nz)

Civil Aviation Authority has produced a quick reference guide to help industry participants easily identify where the sections you work with in the 1990 Act are now represented in the Civil Aviation Act 2023.

To read the 1990-2023 Civil Aviation Act comparison guide, go to: 1990-2023 Civil Aviation Act comparison guide (aviation.govt.nz)