CIVIL AVIATION ACT

to provide for the control, regulation and orderly development of civil aviation in Zambia; to provide for the grant of permits for air services and airport services; provide for the implementation of a State Safety Programme in compliance with Annex 19 to the Chicago Convention; to provide for the establishment of an independent Aircraft Accident Investigation Board in compliance with Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention; to provide for security for civil aviation and a National Aviation Security Programme in compliance with Annex 17 to the Chicago Convention; to provide for air services, airport services and air navigation services in compliance with Annex 14 to the Chicago Convention; to provide for the transportation of dangerous goods by air in compliance with Annex 18 to the Chicago Convention; to promote the safe, secure and efficient use of civil aviation; to give effect to the International Convention on Civil Aviation signed in Chicago on 7th of December, 1944 and all international agreements on civil aviation to which Zambia has acceded and is a State party; to consolidate the various laws on aviation and repeal the Aviation Act, 1995, Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1989, Air Services Act, 1964, and Tokyo Convention Act, 1971; provide for the functions of the Zambia Airports Corporation Limited and the renaming of designated airports; and to provide for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing.

[15th July, 2016]

Act 5 of 2016,

SI 55 of 2016.

PART I
PRELIMINARY

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Civil Aviation Act.

2. Interpretation

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“accident site” means a place associated with an aircraft accident or serious aircraft incident and the area around the site that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board determines to be reasonably necessary to facilitate the investigation of the accident or serious aircraft incident and secure the aircraft accident site and includes a site—

(a) containing the civil aircraft or any of its wreckage;

(b) where there is an impact point associated with the accident or serious aircraft incident; and

(c) containing property that was involved in the accident or serious aircraft incident or any of the wreckage of the property;

“accredited representative” means a person designated by a State, on the basis of that person’s qualifications, for the purpose of participating in an aircraft accident or serious aircraft incident investigation conducted by another State or a person appointed in accordance with this Act;

“aerial work” means an aircraft operation in which an aircraft is used for specialised services such as agriculture, construction, firefighting, photography, surveying, observation, patrol, search and rescue or aerial advertisement;

“aerodrome” means a defined area on land or water, including any buildings, installations and equipment intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival, departure or surface movement of aircraft;

“Aeronautical Information Publication” means a publication issued by or with the authority of a State and containing aeronautical information of a lasting character essential to air navigation;

“air carrier” means the air carrier that issues a ticket and carries or undertakes to carry the passenger or that passenger’s baggage or to perform or undertakes to perform any other service related to such air carriage, and includes a commercial air transport operator providing a scheduled or non-scheduled air service;

“aircraft” means a machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from the reactions of the air, other than the reactions of the air against the earth’s surface;

“aircraft accident” means an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which, in the case of a manned aircraft, takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked, or in the case of an unmanned aircraft, takes place between the time the aircraft is ready to move with the purpose of flight until such time as it comes to rest at the end of the flight and the primary propulsion system is shut down, in which—

(a) a person is fatally or seriously injured as a result of—

(i) being in the aircraft;

(ii) direct contact with any part of the aircraft, including parts which could have become detached from the aircraft;

(iii) direct exposure to jet blast; except when the injuries are from natural causes, self inflicted or inflicted by other persons, or when the injuries are to stowaways hiding outside the areas normally available to passengers and crew; or

(b) the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure which—

(i) adversely affects the structural strength, performance or flight characteristics of the aircraft; and

(ii) would normally require major repair or replacement of the affected component,

except for engine failure or damage, when the damage is limited to a single engine (including its cowlings or accessories), to propellers, wing tips, antennas, probes, vanes, tyres, brakes, wheels, fairings, panels, landing gear doors, windscreens, the aircraft skin (such as small dents or puncture holes), or for minor damages to main rotor blades, tail rotor blades, landing gear and those resulting from hail or bird strike (including holes in the radome); or

“Aircraft Accident Investigation Board” means the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board established under section 48;

“aircraft engine” means an engine used, or intended to be used, for propulsion of a civil aircraft and includes all parts, appurtenances and accessories of the engine, other than propellers;

“aircraft incident” means an occurrence, other than an aircraft accident, associated with the operation of a civil aircraft which affects or could affect the safety or operation of the civil aircraft;

“airline” means any air transport enterprise offering or operating an international air service;

“air navigation facility” means a facility used, available for use, or designed for use in aid of air navigation and includes aerodromes, restricted landing areas, structures, mechanisms, lights, beacons, marks, communicating systems or other instrumentalities or devices used or useful as an aid or constituting an advantage or convenience to—

(a) the safe taking off, navigation and landing of aircraft;

(b) the safe and efficient operation or maintenance of an aerodrome or restricted area; or

“air navigation services” means services provided within a flight information region and includes—

(a) communications, navigation and surveillance services, whether ground to air or ground to ground, provided for the safety of civil aircraft;

(b) visual and nonvisual aids to navigation;

(d) meteorological services provided for the safety of civil aircraft and for the regularity of flights;

“air operator” means a person who undertakes to engage in commercial air transport operations, whether directly or indirectly, by lease or any other arrangement;

“Air Operator’s Certificate or AOC” means a Certificate authorising an operator to carry out specified commercial air transport operations;

“airport infrastructure” means runways, taxiways, aprons, vertical signalisation installations and terminal buildings with associated facilities and installations;

“airport operator” means a person who—

(a) administers and manages an airport; or

(b) coordinates and controls the activities of different operators at an aerodrome;

“airport restricted area” means any area, building or place, at an international airport, in respect of which access control has been instituted for security purposes by, or with the concurrence of, the management of such international airport, or in respect of which the Minister has directed the management of the international airport or an organisation conducting business at an aerodrome, to institute access control and in respect of which access control has been so instituted;

“airport services” means services provided at an aerodrome which are essential for safe air traffic operations and includes but is not limited to the following—

(a) ground handling of civil aircraft, passengers, baggage, freight or mail;

(b) fire fighting;

(d) the supply of civil aircraft with fuel and lubricants;

(e) protection services against acts of unlawful interference to civil aircraft;

(f) in flight catering services;

(g) conveniences for passengers and other airport users; and

(h) services by self-service handling provider;

“airport services permit” means a permit granted by the Authority in accordance with section 105;

“airport system” means two or more airports grouped together to serve the same city, town, district or province and includes the various systems utilised by airports to ensure the smooth functioning and operations of such airports;

“airport user” means a person who utilises the airport facilities and services;

“air route” means navigable airspace between two points and the terrain beneath that airspace identified, to the extent necessary, for the application of flight rules;

“air service for own use” means a non-commercial flight engaged for transport of persons and things for a person’s own use;

“air service” means any scheduled air service performed by aircraft for the public transport of passengers, mail or cargo;

“air traffic” means all aircraft in flight or operating on manoeuvering areas of an aerodrome;

“air traffic control service” means a service provided for the purpose of—

(a) preventing collisions—

(i) between aircraft; and

(ii) on the manoeuvring area between aircraft and obstructions; and

(b) expediting and maintaining an orderly flow of air traffic;

“air traffic management” means the dynamic, integrated management of air traffic and airspace including air traffic services, airspace management and air traffic flow management safely, economically and efficiently through the provision of facilities and seamless services in collaboration with all parties and involving airborne and ground based functions;

“air traffic service” is a generic term meaning variously, flight information service, alerting service, air traffic advisory service, air traffic control service (area control service, approach control service or aerodrome control service;

“airspace of Zambia” means the airspace over the territory of the Republic of Zambia;

“Annex” means an Annex to the Chicago Convention and the amendments to the Annex;

“Appeals Tribunal” means the tribunal established under section 71 of the Civil Aviation Authority Act, 2012;

“appliances” means instruments, equipment, apparatus, parts, appurtenances or accessories, of whatever description, which are used, or are capable of being, or intended to be, used in the navigation, operation or control of civil aircraft in flight, including a parachute, communication equipment and other mechanism installed in, or attached to, civil aircraft during flight, and which are not part of the civil aircraft, aircraft engines or propellers;

“authorised officer” means an employee of the Authority authorised to perform certain functions of the Authority or to whom functions have been delegated in accordance with this Act;

“authorised person” means—

(a) a person appointed, in writing, by the management of an aerodrome, with the approval of the Director-General or any person authorised by the Director-General to furnish such approval;

(b) a person authorised in writing by the Zambia Defence Force;

(d) any other person appointed, in writing, by the Minister, for the purposes of this Act;

“Authority” means the Civil Aviation Authority established by the Civil Aviation Authority Act, 2012;

“aviation facility” means premises for the handling of passengers, cargo, mail or baggage, an aircraft hangar, a fuel storage area and any other premises, structure or place to which the public have no right of access and in which a service is rendered for the operation of an aerodrome, civil aircraft or the public at an aerodrome or heliport, whether such building, structure or premise is situated within the boundaries of the aerodrome or not;

“Board of the Authority” means the Board of the Authority established in accordance with the Civil Aviation Authority Act, 2012;

“carriage” means transportation on board a civil aircraft;

“Chicago Convention” means the Convention on International Civil Aviation, opened up for signature at Chicago on 7th December, 1944, including the Annexes and any amendment to it to the extent that ICAO has declared such amendment to be in force, in accordance with the Chicago Convention, and the Minister has, by statutory instrument, given effect to the amendment;

“citizen” means—

(a) an individual who is a Zambian citizen;

(b) a partnership of which each member is a Zambian citizen; or

(c) a citizen owned company, citizen empowered company or citizen influenced company, as defined in the Citizens Economic Empowerment Act, 2006;

“civil aircraft” means an aircraft other than a State or public aircraft;

“civil aviation” means air services or aerial work or commercial air transport operations;

“commercial air transport operations” means the operation of a civil aircraft for the carriage of passengers, cargo or mail for remuneration or hire, whether domestically or internationally;

“communication record” means the whole or any part of any record, recording, copy, transcript or substantial summary of any type or form of communications in respect of air traffic control or related matters that take place between or amongst the following persons—

(a) air traffic controllers;

(b) flight crew members;

(d) flight service station specialists; or

(e) persons who relay messages in respect of air traffic control or related matters;

“Contracting State” means a State which is a party to the Chicago Convention or any of the Conventions;

“Conventions” means the Convention on Offences and Certain other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft signed in Tokyo on 14th September, 1963, the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft signed at the Hague on 16th December, 1970 or the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation signed in Montreal on 23rd September, 1971;

“Convention country” means a country in which the Chicago Convention or any of the Conventions is in force;

“dangerous goods” means any article or substance which is capable of posing a significant risk to health, safety, property or the environment when transported by air;

“designated airport” means an aerodrome designated by the Minister by statutory instrument;

“Director-General” means the chief executive officer of the Authority appointed in accordance with the Civil Aviation Authority Act, 2012;

“Director of Investigations” means the person appointed as the Director of Investigations in accordance with section 54;

“flight crew member” means a licensed crew member charged with duties essential to the operation of a civil aircraft during a flight duty period, and includes the pilot in command;

“flight information region” means an airspace of defined dimensions within which flight information services and alerting services are provided;

“flight path” means the line of an aircraft’s passage through the air;

“foreign air operator” means an operator, other than an air operator established in Zambia, who undertakes, directly or indirectly, by lease or other arrangement, scheduled or non scheduled air services within the borders or airspace of Zambia;

“harmful article” means a dangerous good as defined in Annex 18 and a weapon, explosives or other dangerous device, articles or substance which are subject to security control in accordance with Annex 17;

“heliport” means a defined area on land, structure or installation or design intended to be used for, or in connection with, the arrival, departure or surface movement of helicopters;

“ICAO” means the International Civil Aviation Organisation;

“identifying and notifying of differences” means the process whereby a Contracting State, in accordance with Article 38 of the Chicago Convention, identifies and notifies another ICAO Contracting State of any differences as specified in the Chicago Convention;

“inspector” means an inspector appointed by the Director-General in accordance with section 17 of the Civil Aviation Authority Act, 2012;

“International Agreement” means the International Air Services Transit Agreement signed at Chicago in the United States of America on 7th December, 1944, or any other international agreement amending that Agreement or substituted for that Agreement to which the Government may be a party;

“international airport” means an aerodrome designated by the Minister, by statutory instrument, as an international airport;

“international air service” means an air service which passes through the airspace over the territory of more than one State;

“international aviation standard” means—

(a) an international standard or recommended practice or procedure adopted or amended by the ICAO in accordance with Article 37 of the Chicago Convention;

(b) any standard, rule or requirement on aviation prescribed by the law of any regional grouping;

“international commercial air transport” means the carriage by civil aircraft of passengers, cargo or mail for remuneration or hire, between any two or more States;

“investigator” means an investigator appointed in accordance with section 17 of the Civil Aviation Authority Act, 2012, or an investigator appointed in accordance with section 54;

“manoeuvering area” means that part of an aerodrome that is used for the takeoff, landing and taxiing of aircraft, excluding aprons;

“National Aviation Security Programme or NASP” means the National Aviation Security Programme developed by the Authority in accordance with section 55 and in compliance with Annex 17;

“National Facilitation Programme or NFP” means the National Facilitation Programme developed by the Authority in accordance with section 57 and in compliance with Annex 9;

“navigable airspace” means the airspace above the prescribed minimum altitudes of flight and includes the airspace needed to ensure safety in the takeoff and landing of civil aircraft;

“on board recording” means the whole or any part of—

(a) a recording of voice communications originating from, or received on, or in, the flight deck of a civil aircraft; or

(b) a video recording of the activities of the personnel of a civil aircraft that is made using recording equipment that is intended not to be controlled by the personnel on the flight deck of the aircraft,

including a substantial summary of such a recording or transcript of the video recording;

“operator” means a person, organisation or enterprise engaged in, or offering to engage in, commercial air transport operations, and includes any person who causes or authorises the operation of a civil aircraft in the capacity of owner, lessee or otherwise, with or without control of the civil aircraft;

“person” means an individual, firm, partnership, statutory corporation, company or association, including any trustee, receiver, assignee or other similar entity;

“pilot-in-command” means the pilot designated by the operator, or in the case of general aviation, the owner, as being in command and charged with the safe conduct of a flight;

“premise” includes an aerodrome, hangar, approved maintenance organisation, workshop, ramp, fuel storage, operator’s office, cargo handling area, vehicle and aviation training organisation;

“public health emergency of international concern” means an extraordinary event which is determined, as provided in the International Health Regulations (2005) of the World Health Organisation, to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and which potentially requires a coordinated international response;

“public health risk” means a likelihood of an event that may adversely affect the health of human populations, with an emphasis on an event which may spread internationally or may present a serious and direct danger;

“public interest” means the public convenience and necessity of civil aviation;

“registered owner” means the person in whose name an aircraft is registered and includes any person who is or has been acting as an agent in Zambia for a foreign air operator or a person by whom the aircraft is hired at the time;

“regulations” in this Act is used in a generic sense to include but is not limited to statutory instruments, instructions, rules, edicts, directives, policies, requirements, including the Zambia Civil Aviation Requirements (ZCARs), circulars and orders.

“repealed Act” means the Aviation Act;

“repealed Acts” means the Aviation Act, Safety of Civil Aviation Act, Air Services Act and the Tokyo Convention Act;

“rescue” means an operation to retrieve persons in distress, provide for their initial medical or other needs, and deliver them to a place of safety;

“restricted area” means an area, building or place, at an international airport, in respect of which access control has been instituted for security purposes by, or with the concurrence of, the management of such international airport, or in respect of which the Minister has directed the management of the international airport, or an organisation conducting business at an aerodrome, to institute access control and in respect of which access control has been so instituted;

“runway” means a defined rectangular area at an aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of civil aircraft;

“scheduled air services” means a series of flights operated to serve air traffic between two or more aerodromes according to a published timetable or the flights to such aerodromes that are so regular or frequent that they constitute a recognisable systematic series;

“search” means an operation normally coordinated by a Rescue Coordination Centre or Rescue Sub-centre using available personnel and facilities to locate persons in distress;

“search and rescue service” means the performance of distress monitoring, communication, coordination and search and rescue functions, initial medical assistance or medical evacuation, through the use of public and private resources, including cooperating aircraft, vessels and other craft and installations;

“self-service handling provider” means a user of an aerodrome that independently provides one or more categories of airport services to itself;

“serious aircraft incident” means an incident involving circumstances indicating that there was a high probability of an accident and associated with the operation of a civil aircraft which—

(a) in the case of a manned aircraft, takes place between the time any person boards the civil aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked; or

(b) in the case of an unmanned aircraft, takes place between the time the aircraft is ready to move with the purpose of flight until such time as it comes to rest at the end of the flight and the primary propulsion system is shut down;

“sports flights” includes parachute jumping, aero modeling intended for recreation purposes and sport competitions;

“State aircraft” means an aircraft used exclusively in the service of a government, including—

(a) the Government of Zambia; and

(b) a military aircraft,

but does not include a government owned aircraft engaged in commercial air transport operations;

“State of Design” means the State having jurisdiction over an organisation responsible for the design of an aircraft;

“State of Manufacture” means the State having jurisdiction over an organisation responsible for the final assembly of an aircraft;

“State of Occurrence” means the State in whose territory an aircraft accident or serious aircraft incident occurs;

“State of Operator” means the State in which the operator’s principal place of business is located or, if there is no such place of business, the operator’s permanent residence;

“State of Registry” means the State on whose register the aircraft is registered;

“State Safety Programme” means the management system which complies with the requirements of Annex 19 and developed by the Authority in accordance with section 45;

“stop for non-traffic purposes” means a landing for any purpose other than taking on or discharging passengers, cargo or mail;

“taxiway” means a defined path on or at an aerodrome established for the taxiing of aircraft and intended to provide a link between one part of the aerodrome to another part of the aerodrome;

“technical standard” means a standard published under the authority of the Director-General that specifies the technical requirements, data, information or guidance relating to an acceptable means of compliance with such standard;

“Tokyo Convention” means the Convention on Offences and Certain other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft signed in Tokyo on 14th September, 1963, including amendments to it, to the extent that ICAO has declared such amendments to be in force and the Minister has, by statutory instrument, given effect to the amendments;

“Transit Agreement” means the International Air Services Transit Agreement signed at Chicago on 7th December, 1944, or any international agreement amending that agreement to which Zambia is a State Party and the Minister has, by statutory instrument, given effect to the amendments; and

“Zambian aircraft” means an aircraft registered in Zambia and includes any aircraft that is operated by joint air transport operating organisations or international operating agencies established by the Government, as operators and any other Convention country that is declared by the Minister, by notice in the Gazette, to be a Zambian aircraft;

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