Traffic safety provisions in aviation legislation to be specified

The Ministry of Transport and Communications has invited comments on amendments to aviation legislation, including the Aviation Act. The aim of the amendments is to clarify the national aviation regulation, specify the powers of the authorities and maintain the high standard of safety in civil aviation.

The amendments would update the national aviation regulation to meet the recent developments in EU regulation. They would also implement several legislative specifications that are technical in nature. 

The amendments would clarify the powers of the Transport and Communications Agency to restrict the use of air traffic rights. In addition, the Agency's role in terms of implementing the EU Aviation Safety Regulation would be made clearer. In future, the grants for airports would be the responsibility of the Agency.

The Act would clarify the consequences of unmanned aviation not complying with EU regulations and would include provisions on the right to monitor unauthorised unmanned aircraft systems in airport surroundings, for example.

Furthermore, the draft Act would specify certain aspects of aviation safety. For example, it would grant the aviation search and rescue services the right to obtain information necessary for completing the task in question. In future, the airworthiness review certificates of light aircraft would be granted by airworthiness review staff.

What next?

The draft bill including provisions in the Aviation Act, the Act on Transport Services with regard to aviation, the Act on Electronic Communication Services and the Criminal Code was submitted for comments on 8 April 2021. The deadline for comments is 20 May 2021.

Organisations and private individuals are invited to comment the bill online at www.lausuntopalvelu.fi or by email at [email protected].

Following the consultation round, Ministry officials will continue the preparations for the Act. The aim is for the amendments to come into force no later than the beginning of 2022.

Inquiries:

Laura Vilkkonen, Director General, tel. +358 40 5000817

Sonja Töyrylä, Coordinator, tel.+358 50 4384729

Jenni Rantio, Senior Government Adviser, tel. +358 50 534 7647

Suvi Kankare, Senior Officer, tel. +358 50 478 4743