CIVIL AVIATION Citation and commencement 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Civil Aviation (Chargeable Air Services) (Detention and Sale of Aircraft) Regulations 2001 and shall come into force on 1st April 2001. Interpretation 2 In these Regulations— “aircraft documents” has the meaning given by section 88(10) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 . “airport charges” means charges payable to the owner or manager of an aerodrome for the use of, or for services provided at, an aerodrome but does not include charges payable by virtue of section 73 of the Transport Act 2000; “authorised person” means— any constable; and any person authorised by the CAA (whether by name or by class or description) either generally or in relation to a particular case or class of cases pursuant to paragraph 15 of Schedule 1 to the Civil Aviation Act 1982; “the court” means as respects England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the High Court and, as respects Scotland, the Court of Session; and “Eurocontrol” has the meaning given by section 24 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 . Detention and sale of aircraft for unpaid charges 3 Where default is made in the payment of charges payable in respect of any aircraft by virtue of section 73(1) of the Transport Act 2000, other than charges payable to Eurocontrol, the CAA or an authorised person may, subject to the provisions of this and the following regulations, take such steps as are necessary to detain, pending payment, either— a the aircraft in respect of which the charges were incurred (whether or not they were incurred by the person who is the operator of the aircraft at the time when the detention begins); or b any other aircraft of which the person in default is the operator at the time when the detention begins; and if the charges are not paid within 56 days of the date when the detention begins, the CAA may, subject to the following regulations, sell the aircraft in order to satisfy the charges. 4 The CAA or authorised person concerned shall not detain, or continue to detain, an aircraft under these Regulations by reason of any alleged default in the payment of charges payable in respect of any aircraft by virtue of section 73(1) of the Transport Act 2000 if the operator of the aircraft or any other person claiming an interest therein— a disputes that the charges, or any of them, are due or, if the aircraft is detained under regulation 3(a) of these Regulations, that the charges in question were incurred in respect of that aircraft; and b gives to the CAA, pending the determination of the dispute, sufficient security for the payment of the charges which are alleged to be due. 5 1 The CAA shall not sell an aircraft under these Regulations without the leave of the court; and the court shall not give leave except on proof that a sum is due to a person falling within paragraph (2), that default has been made in the payment thereof and that the aircraft which the CAA seeks leave to sell is liable to sale under these Regulations by reason of the default. 2 A person falls within this paragraph if— a he is a person to whom the CAA has specified pursuant to section 73(1)(c) of the Transport Act 2000 that charges are to be paid; or b he is a person of a description of persons to whom the CAA has specified pursuant to that section that charges are to be paid. 6 1 The CAA shall, before applying to the court for leave to sell an aircraft under these Regulations, take such steps for bringing the proposed application to the notice of interested persons and for affording them an opportunity of becoming a party to the proceedings as are set forth in the Schedule to these Regulations. 2 If such leave is given, the CAA shall secure that the aircraft is sold for the best price that can be reasonably obtained; but failure to comply with any requirement of this regulation or of the said Schedule in respect of any sale, while actionable as against the CAA at the suit of any person suffering loss in consequence thereof, shall not, after the sale has taken place, be a ground for impugning its validity. 7 The proceeds of any sale under these Regulations shall be applied as follows, and in the following order, that is to say— a in payment of any customs duty which is due in consequence of the aircraft having been brought into the United Kingdom; b in payment of the expenses incurred by the CAA in detaining, keeping and selling the aircraft, including its expenses in connection with the application to the court; c in payment of the charges in respect of any aircraft which the court has found to be due by virtue of section 73(1) of the Transport Act 2000; d in payment of any airport charges incurred in respect of the aircraft which are due from the operator of the aircraft to the person owning or managing the aerodrome at which the aircraft was detained under these Regulations; and the surplus, if any, shall be paid to or among the person or persons whose interests in the aircraft have been divested by reason of the sale. 8 The power of detention and sale conferred by these Regulations in respect of an aircraft extends to the equipment of the aircraft and any stores for use in connection with its operation (being equipment and stores carried in the aircraft) whether or not the property of the person who is its operator, and references to the aircraft in regulations 3 to 7 of these Regulations include, except where the context otherwise requires, references to any such equipment and stores. 9 The power of detention conferred by these Regulations in respect of an aircraft extends to any aircraft documents carried in it, and any such documents may, if the aircraft is sold under these Regulations, be transferred by the CAA to the purchaser. 10 The power conferred by these Regulations to detain an aircraft may be exercised on any occasion when the aircraft is on any aerodrome to which section 88 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 applies and to Belfast International Airport, Belfast City Airport and Eglinton Airport. 11 Nothing in these Regulations shall prejudice any right of a person falling within regulation 5(2) to recover any charges, or any part thereof, by action. Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions Bob Ainsworth Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions 21st February 2001