UAE AVIATION LEGAL REGIME

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Arleen Barnett
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1 UAE AVIATION LEGAL REGIME Presented by Ian Veall Dubai, United Arab Emirates Dubai Air Show 2015 Dubai, UAE

2 UAE AVIATION LEGAL REGIME INTRODUCTION TO DHB&A DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION OF THE AVIATION INDUSTRY IN THE UAE RELEVANT LEGISLATION

3 INTRODUCTION TO DHB&A Founded in 1995 as the only aviation law firm in the Arabian Gulf Specializing in sale, purchase, lease and finance of new and used aircraft (fixed wing and rotary) and related equipment Firm s origins trace back to Canada Senior Partner 32 years with Ogilvy Renault representing Air Canada, Sky Service, Royal Bank of Canada etc. Canadian connection continues: - McGill University and IATA lecturing - Canadian clients (e.g. Air Inuit, Potash Corporation) served from this base - All Partners are Canadian

4 DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION OF THE AVIATION INDUSTRY IN THE UAE Required to meet the demands of a rapid population expansion now reaching 9.45 million - Annual growth rate of 9.5% since UAE national population has doubled 46 times since then and expatriate population 143 times Infrastructure development with a focus on the aviation industry - Daily aircraft movements 342 in 1986 now average 2250 up 17.2% at Dubai International and 14.3% at Abu Dhabi International for first nine months (2015) - Passenger traffic at DIA up 12% and up 18% at ADIA respectively over the same period

5 - Cargo traffic similarly up 2.6% at DIA and 7.2% at ADIA over the same period - In perspective, DIA employs approx. 400,000 and handled 7.2 million passengers in August 2015 alone = roughly 232,000 passengers per day. Annual projection of 79 million passengers likely to be reached shortly - In late 1960s, Dubai was served by 9 airlines flying to 20 destinations. Today, some 140 airlines serve Dubai to over 270 destinations of which 149 are direct connections to cities of a population in excess of 1 million aircraft are registered in the UAE with Emirates currently at 240 and Etihad at Emirates alone has some 269 aircraft on order

6 RELEVANT LEGISLATION Domestic UAE CIVIL AVIATION LAW GENERAL CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY LAW CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS (CARs) COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS LAW DUBAI CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY LAW International CAPE TOWN CONVENTION AND AIRCRAFT PROTOCOL MONTREAL CONVENTION Bilateral Agreements Open Skies

7 CIVIL AVIATION LAW (Federal Law No. 20/1991) Upheld principles of the Chicago Convention regarding State sovereignty over its airspace Chicago Convention provisions are complementary to the Civil Aviation Law Ministry of Communications (Ministry) (or its designate) to supervise all matters relating to civil aviation and its development in the UAE

8 Ministry mandated tasks Establish a policy for, and supervise commercial air transport, in relation to - Negotiating agreements with other states for scheduled and non-scheduled services - Monitoring commercial air transport activities of national airlines and issuing operating licences thereto - Monitoring compliance by national and foreign airlines with relevant bilateral agreements - Reviewing and issuing decisions on traffic rights applications from foreign entities - Rules of Air (e.g. overflight), registration requirements (e.g. civil aircraft registry, nationality of applicant), offences against safety of aircraft, penalties and contraventions

9 GENERAL CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY LAW (Federal Law No. 4/1996) Established the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) with sole authority for the control and regulation of civil aviation in the UAE GCAA s functions - Promulgate the general policy for civil aviation, propose laws, and represent the UAE in bilateral negotiations - Establish rules of overflight, landing and departing, conditions of carriage and flying zones and navigation routes - Determine matters relating to registration of aircraft and issuance of airworthiness certificates, appointment of aircraft crew members and issuance of licences thereto - Undertake Air Traffic Control operations - Oversee maintenance and repair of aircraft and issuance of licences to maintenance facilities in the UAE

10 COMMERCIAL AIR REGULATIONS (CARs) Further mandated to promote necessary regulations to implement the Civil Aviation Law embodied in CARs covering, for example, - Licensing - Operations - Airworthiness - Aviation Safety and Security - Air Navigation - Aerodrome operations

11 COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS LAW (Federal Law No. 8/1993) Provided, amongst other things, rules governing Air Carriage (e.g. contracts of carriage and liability) DUBAI CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY LAW (Dubai Law No. 21/2007 as amended by Law No. 19/2010) Established the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority empowered to amongst other things: - Authorize GCAA licensed air carriers to operate scheduled and non- scheduled flights to the Emirate s airports - Follow up the implementation of bilateral and multilateral agreements for air services in the Emirate - Sign Memoranda of Understanding relating to traffic rights through the Emirate s airports together with the GCAA

12 INTERNATIONAL LAW CAPE TOWN CONVENTION AND AIRCRAFT PROTOCOL MONTREAL CONVENTION 1999

13 BILATERAL AGREEMENTS Bilateral negotiations undertaken by GCAA together with representatives from Emirate Departments of Civil Aviation - Air Service Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding OPEN SKIES POLICY Remove arbitrary regulatory constraints on foreign airlines to grant market access Dubai Commercial Air Agreement of Granting permission for Imperial Airways to land flying boats on Dubai Creek Currently, the UAE has Air Service Agreements with more than 168 countries, of which 122 are open skies or liberal agreements Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Nov. 2015

14 SUMMARY Aviation industry presents challenges as well as tremendous rewards for those with perseverance and vision. This was true back in the 1930s as it is today A solid legal and regulatory framework must be in place to allay the concerns and meet the requirements of participants A delicate balance between required regulation of the industry and the promotion of commercial opportunity

Air Accident Investigation Sector. Serious Injury to a Cabin Crewmember Due to Turbulence

Air Accident Investigation Sector Accident - Preliminary Report - AAIS Case File N o : AIFN/0009/2015 Serious Injury to a Cabin Crewmember Due to Turbulence Operator: Emirates Make and Model: Airbus A380-800