Regulation (EC) No 437/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 February 2003 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air
Date: 2003-02-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: EU statistics, Eurostat, Gibraltar, air transport, carriage of passengers, data collection, disclosure of information, load, postal service, statistical method, transport statistics

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(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

REGULATION (EC) No 437/2003 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air

of 27 February 2003

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu-
nity, and in particular Article 285 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

To carry out the tasks entrusted to them, in the context
of the Community air transport policy and that of the
future development of the Common Transport Policy,
the Community institutions should have at their disposal
comparable, consistent, synchronised and regular statis-
tical data on the scale and development of the carriage
of passengers,
freight and mail by air within the
Community or to and from the Community.

There are currently no such comprehensive Community-
wide statistics.

Council Decision 1999/126/EC of 22 December 1998
on the Community statistical programme 1998 to
2002 (4) has identified the need to establish such statis-
tics.

tion Organisation (ICAO) and be made comparable,
where applicable, as between Member States and for the
different modes of transport.

After a certain period, the Commission should submit a
report in order to allow an assessment of the application
of this Regulation to be made.

standards

In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity laid
down in Article 5 of the Treaty, the creation of common
the production of
that permit
statistical
harmonised data is an action which can only be under-
taken efficiently at Community level. Such standards
should be implemented in each Member State under the
authority of the bodies and institutions in charge of
producing official statistics.

Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February
1997 on Community statistics (5) provides a reference
framework for the provisions laid down by this Regula-
tion.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Regulation should be adopted in accordance with
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying
down the procedures for the exercise of implementing
powers conferred on the Commission (6).

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

The common data collection on a comparable or harmo-
nised basis makes possible the provision of an integrated
system with reliable, consistent and prompt information.

(10)

The Statistical Programme Committee established by
Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (7) has been
consulted.

The data for the carriage of passengers, freight and mail
by air should, where possible, be compatible with inter-
national data provided by the International Civil Avia-

(1) OJ C 325, 6.12.1995, p. 11.
(2) OJ C 39, 12.2.1996, p. 25.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 29 February 1996 (OJ C 78,
18.3.1996, p. 28), confirmed on 16 September 1999 (OJ C 54,
25.2.2000, p. 79), Council Common Position of 30 September
2002 (OJ C 275 E, 12.11.2002, p. 33) and Decision of
the
European Parliament of 18 December 2002 (not yet published in
the Official Journal).
(4) OJ L 42, 16.2.1999, p. 1.

(11) Arrangements for greater cooperation over the use of
Gibraltar airport were agreed in London on 2 December
1987 by the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in a joint declara-
tion by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two coun-
tries, and such arrangements have yet
to come into
operation,

(5) OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(7) OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Objective

Member States shall establish statistical returns on the carriage
of passengers, freight and mail by commercial air services as
well as on civil aircraft movements to or from Community
airports, except for flights by State aircraft.

Article 2

Gibraltar

The application of

1.
this Regulation to the airport of
Gibraltar is understood to be without prejudice to the respec-
tive legal positions of the Kingdom of Spain and the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with regard to
the dispute over sovereignty over the territory in which the
airport is situated.

2.
The application of this Regulation to Gibraltar airport
shall be suspended until the arrangements in the Joint Declara-
tion made by the Foreign Ministers of the Kingdom of Spain
and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
on 2 December 1987 come into operation. The Governments
of Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland shall inform the Council of such date of entry
into operation.

Article 3

Data collection characteristics

Each Member State shall collect statistical data relating to

1.
the following variables:

(a) passengers

(b) freight and mail

(c) flight stages

(d) passenger seats available

(e) aircraft movements.

A list of Community airports covered by the first subparagraph
shall be drawn up by the Commission and,
if necessary,
updated in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
11(2).

3.
For airports, apart from those having only occasional
commercial traffic, which are not covered by paragraph 2,
Member States shall transmit only an annual return of the data
specified in Table C1 of Annex I.

4.

Notwithstanding paragraphs 2 and 3, for airports:

(a) with fewer than 1 500 000 passenger units a year for
which no collection of data corresponding to those speci-
fied in Annex I exists on the date of entry into force of this
Regulation,

(b) and for which the introduction of a new data collection

system proves very difficult,

a Member State may for a limited time not exceeding three
years from 1 January 2003, in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 11(2), transmit data less complete than
those referred to in Annex I.

5.

Notwithstanding paragraph 2, for airports:

(a) for which no collection of data corresponding to those
specified in Table B1 of Annex I exists on the date of entry
into force of this Regulation,

(b) and for which the introduction of a new data collection

system proves very difficult,

a Member State may, until 31 December 2003, in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 11(2), transmit only
existing data.

Article 4

Collection of data

The collection of data shall be based where possible on

1.
available sources, minimising the burden on respondents.

2.
Respondents called upon by Member States to supply
information shall be obliged to give true and complete informa-
tion within the prescribed time limits.

The statistical variables in each area, the nomenclatures for
their classification, their periodicity of observation and the defi-
nitions are set out in Annexes I and II.

Article 5

Accuracy of statistics

2.
Each Member State shall collect all data set out in Annex
I for all Community airports in its territory with traffic in
excess of 150 000 passenger units annually.

The collection of data shall be based on complete returns,
unless other standards of accuracy are established in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 11(2).

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Article 6

Data processing

Member States shall use methods for data processing which
ensure that the data collected under Article 3 comply with the
standards of accuracy set out in Article 5.

Article 7

Transmission of results

1. Member States shall transmit to the Statistical Office of
the European Communities the results of the data processing
referred to in Article 6, including data declared confidential by
the Member States pursuant to domestic legislation or practice
concerning statistical confidentiality, in accordance with Regu-
lation (EC) No 322/97.

2.
The results shall be transmitted according to the data files
shown in Annex I. The files and the medium to be used for
transmission shall be specified by the Commission in accor-
dance with the procedure laid down in Article 11(2).

3.
The first period of observation shall begin on 1 January
2003. Transmission shall take place as soon as possible and no
later than six months after the end of the period of observa-
tion.

Article 8

Dissemination

1.
The arrangements whereby the Commission publishes or
disseminates the statistical results shall be drawn up in accor-
dance with the procedure laid down in Article 11(2).

2.
The Commission shall disseminate to the Member States
appropriate statistical results with a frequency similar to that
laid down for the transmission of results.

Article 9

Reports

At the request of the Commission, Member States shall
1.
communicate all information concerning the methods used in
the collection of data. Member States shall also, where appro-
priate, communicate to the Commission any substantive
changes to the collection methods used.

After data have been collected over a period of three
2.
years, the Commission shall submit a report to the European
Parliament and the Council on experience acquired in the appli-
cation of this Regulation, in particular of Articles 7 and 8.

Article 10

Implementing arrangements

The arrangements for implementing this Regulation, including
measures for adaptation to economic and technical develop-
ments, in particular:

— adaptation of
Regulation,

the specifications in the Annexes to this

— adaptation of the data collection characteristics (Article 3),

— the list of Community airports covered by Article 3(2),

— accuracy of statistics (Article 5),

— description of the data files, codes and the medium to be
used for transmission of results to the Commission (Article
7),

— dissemination of statistical results (Article 8),

shall be laid down by the Commission in accordance with the
procedure specified in Article 11(2).

Article 11

Committee procedure

1.
The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical
Programme Committee established by Article 1 of Decision 89/
382/EEC, Euratom.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.

Article 12

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the 20th day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 27 February 2003.

For the European Parliament

The President

P. COX

For the Council

The President

M. CHRISOCHOÏDIS

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ANNEX I

RECORD STRUCTURE FOR DATA TRANSMISSION TO EUROSTAT

A. FLIGHT STAGE DATABASE (AT LEAST QUARTERLY DATA)

The ‘flight stage’ data refer to commercial air services only.

Data file record format

Elements

Coding detail

Nomenclature

Unit

Table

2-alpha

A1

Reporting country

2-alpha

(1) ICAO nationality letters

Reference year

Reference period

Reporting airport

2-digit

yy

2-digit

(2) Statra 291 rev., April 1991

4-alpha

(3) ICAO

Next/previous airport

4-alpha

(3) ICAO

Arrival/departure

Scheduled/non-scheduled services

1-digit

1-digit

1 = arrival 2 = departure

1 = scheduled 2 = non-scheduled

Passenger
services

services/all-freight and mail

1-digit

1 = passenger
services
freight and mail services

2 = all-

Airline information

(4) To be defined

Aircraft type

4-alpha

(5) ICAO + taxiflight code

Passengers on board

Freight and mail on board

Flights

Passenger seats available

12-digit

12-digit

12-digit

12-digit

Passenger

Tonne

Flight

Passenger seat

B. ON FLIGHT ORIGIN/DESTINATION DATABASE (AT LEAST QUARTERLY DATA)

The ‘on flight origin and destination’ data refer to commercial air services only.

Data file record format

Elements

Coding detail

Nomenclature

Unit

Table

2-alpha

B1

Reporting country

2-alpha

(1) ICAO nationality letters

Reference year

Reference period

Reporting airport

2-digit

yy

2-digit

(2) Statra 291 rev., April 1991

4-alpha

(3) ICAO

On flight origin/destination airport

4-alpha

(3) ICAO

Arrival/departure

1-digit

1 = arrival 2 = departure

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Elements

Coding detail

Nomenclature

Unit

Scheduled/non-scheduled services

1-digit

1 = scheduled 2 = non-scheduled

Passenger
services

services/all-freight and mail

1-digit

1 = passenger
services
freight and mail services

2 = all-

Airline information

(4) To be defined

Passengers carried

12-digit

Freight and mail loaded/unloaded

12-digit

Passenger

Tonne

C. AIRPORTS DATABASE (AT LEAST ANNUAL DATA)

The ‘airports data’ refer to commercial air services only, with the exception of ‘total aircraft movements’ which refers
to all aircraft movements.

Data file record format

Elements

Coding detail

Nomenclature

Unit

Table

2-alpha

C1

Reporting country

2-alpha

(1) ICAO nationality letters

Reference year

2-digit

yy

Reference period

2-digit

(2) Statra 291 rev., April 1991

Reporting airport

4-alpha

(3) ICAO

Total passengers carried

Total direct transit passengers

12-digit

12-digit

Total freight and mail loaded/unloaded

12-digit

Total aircraft movements on commercial
air services

12-digit

Total aircraft movements

12-digit

Passenger

Passenger

Tonne

Movement

Movement

1. Reporting country

CODES

The coding system to be used is derived from the ICAO index to nationality letters for location indicators.

Belgium

Denmark

France

Germany

Greece

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

EB

EK

LF

ED

LG

EI

LI

EL

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Netherlands

Portugal

Spain

EH

LP

LE

United Kingdom EG

Austria

Finland

Sweden

LO

EF

ES

2. Reference period

45

21

22

23

24

year

January to March (first quarter)

April to June (second quarter)

July to September (third quarter)

October to December (fourth quarter)

1 to 12 January to December (month)

3. Airports

Airports shall be coded according to the ICAO four-letter codes as listed in ICAO document 7910.

4. Airline information

Information related to the airline. The coding of this variable shall be decided in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 11(2).

5. Aircraft type

Aircraft types shall be coded according to ICAO aircraft type designators as listed in ICAO document 8643.

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ANNEX II

DEFINITIONS

Community airport

Any area in a Member State which is subject to the provisions of the Treaty and open for commercial air transport
operations.

Commercial air services

An air transport flight or series of flights performed by civil aircraft for remuneration to or from Community airports.
Services may be either scheduled or non-scheduled.

Scheduled services

Services possessing all the following characteristics:

1. they are performed by aircraft for the transport of passengers, freight and/or mail for remuneration, in such a manner
that on each flight seats are available for individual purchase by members of the public (either directly from the
airline or from its authorised agents);

2. they are operated so as to serve traffic between the same two or more airports, either:

(a) according to a published timetable; or
(b) with flights so regular or frequent that they constitute a recognisably systematic series.

Non-scheduled services

Services for remuneration other than those reported under scheduled services. Includes taxiflights.

Passenger services

All flights carrying one or more revenue passengers, and any flights listed in timetables as providing passenger services.

All-freight and mail services

Services relating to scheduled or non-scheduled services performed by aircraft carrying loads other than passengers, i.e.
freight and mail.

Flights by State aircraft

Any flight in the context of military, customs, police, protocol or firefighting services.

Passenger units

For the purpose of drawing up the list of Community airports as referred to in Article 3(2) and for the transitional
period referred to in Article 3(4), one passenger unit is equivalent to either one passenger or 90 kilograms of freight and
mail.

Airline

An air transport undertaking with a valid operating licence. Where airlines have joint-venture or other contractual
arrangements requiring two or more of them to assume separate responsibility for the offer and sale of air transport
products for a flight or combination of flights, the airline actually operating the flight shall be reported.

Flight stage

A flight stage is the operation of an aircraft from take-off to its next landing. A technical stop should not result in any
flight stage being classified differently. The classification of traffic, irrespective of its nature (passengers, freight and mail),
shall be identical to the classification of the flight stage flown by the aircraft.

Flights

The number of flights performed between each pair of airports on a flight stage.

Passengers on board

All passengers whose journey begins or terminates at the reporting airport, including connecting passengers and direct
transit passengers.

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Direct transit passengers

Passengers who continue their journey on a flight having the same flight number as the flight on which they arrived.

Freight and mail on board

Any property carried on an aircraft other than stores and baggage; includes express services and diplomatic bags but not
passenger baggage.

Passenger seats available

The total number of passenger seats available for sale between each pair of airports on a flight stage (excluding seats not
actually available for the carriage of passengers because of maximum gross weight limitation). Where information is not
available on exact aircraft seating configuration, estimated data may be provided.

On flight origin/destination

Traffic on a given flight with the same flight number subdivided by airport pairs in accordance with point of embarka-
tion and point of disembarkation on that flight. (For passengers or freight where the airport of embarkation is not
known, the aircraft origin should be deemed to be the point of embarkation; similarly, if the airport of disembarkation
is not known, the aircraft destination should be deemed to be the point of disembarkation).

Passengers carried

Includes all passengers whose journey begins or terminates at the reporting airport. Excludes direct transit passengers.

Freight and mail loaded/unloaded

Any property loaded or unloaded on to or off an aircraft other than stores and baggage. Includes express services and
diplomatic bags but not passenger baggage.

Total aircraft movements

All take-offs and landings by non-military aircraft. Includes aerial work flights, i.e. specialised commercial aviation opera-
tions which are performed by aircraft chiefly engaged in agriculture, construction, photography and surveying, as well as
pilot training, business/executive flying and all other non-commercial flights.

Total aircraft movements on commercial air services

All take-offs and landings performed by civil aircraft for remuneration.