Media Release
Thursday, 26
April, 2001
The
Commissioner for Civil Aviation, Mr Trevor Abrahams,
announced today that an Aircraft Passenger Safety Charge would come into effect
on 1 May 2001. The implementation of the charge was done in consultation with
the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa (BARSA) representing
international airlines, as well as the Airlines Association of South Africa
(AASA), representing domestic airlines.
The Aviation
Aircraft Passenger Safety Charge amounting to R4.00 shall be payable by
Aircraft Passengers departing on an aircraft from an aerodrome on a scheduled
public air transport flight or part of a flight to a destination within or
outside the territory of the Republic of South Africa.
The said
Charge shall be included in the price payable of the air ticket concerned.
Payment of
the said Charge by the operators of the airlines concerned is to be made to the
Authority.
The funding
of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is derived from direct user charges and
indirect charges. User charges include payments for airport licenses, pilot
examinations and licenses while indirect charges relate to payments from the
aviation industry as a whole e.g. safety promotion activities and ad hoc
inspections.
"The
Aircraft Passenger Safety Charge thus provides the means for funding that
portion of the CAA's work that can not be directly
attributed to a particular user," said Mr
Abrahams.
"The
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was established on 1 October 1998. It is a
stand-alone authority charged with, regulating, promoting and enforcing civil
aviation safety and security. It is therefore critical that the CAA implements
a sound financial mechanism to ensure that it has sufficient financial
resources to enable it to fulfil its mandate,"
concluded Mr Abrahams.
It is the
intention of the CAA to report on the distribution of the income derived from
the charge to the Aviation Industry on a regular basis.
Enquiries:
Jackie Mfeka
Manager - Communications
083-635-0019