Government modifies navigation and air safety laws to use resources "more efficiently"

Modifies the sanctioning regime to eliminate the "disproportion"

MADRID, 7 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

This Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved a bill that modifies the Navigation and Air Safety laws with the aim of achieving a "more efficient use of public resources."

The Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Óscar Puente, explained in the press conference after the Council of Ministers that the modifications introduced in this bill are "essential and cannot be postponed", since they update the main laws of the airline sector. , eliminating unnecessary organs and simplifying processes.

For its drafting, two prior public consultations have been carried out, as well as two hearing and public information procedures. In addition, it was communicated to the Autonomous Communities and Cities, and to the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, taking into account the impact of the project on their territorial and urban planning powers.

Among the main novelties introduced in the air navigation law, Puente has highlighted the creation of a single mixed environmental commission in each airport of general interest in which the participation of the regional and local administration is required, which will replace the multiple commissions that " Sometimes they overlap with each other.

Thus, by having a single body, the Government seeks to "optimize and better coordinate" matters related to the environmental impact of infrastructure.

On the other hand, it will also integrate the regime of the master plans of airports of general interest and that of their aeronautical easements, unifying the competent body within the Ministry so that there is coherence between planning and aeronautical easements and they correspond with navigation needs.

Regarding unmanned aircraft systems, the status of aeronautical personnel of pilots and operation support personnel is explicitly defined, imposing on them the obligations provided for in the Air Safety Law for flight or ground personnel.

On the other hand, the modification updates the air traffic regulatory framework, repealing a series of precepts that are inapplicable as a result of the liberalization of intra-community air transport.

Finally, the bill includes modifications to the Air Navigation Law on the possibility of excluding and making more flexible emergency air transport, private, aviation, tourism or sports schools to promote the growth of this sector "which at this time is affected by very demanding" and "restrictive" regulations that "are not proportional to the activity of the sector."

Regarding the aviation safety law, the modifications simplify the processing to obtain or renew licenses, certificates and authorizations, reducing deadlines and improving "the efficiency of public resources."

Likewise, it is clarified that not all aeronautical activities and operations require authorization and only exceptionally, in relation to some air navigation services, is designation required.

The obligation of personnel participating in the operation with unmanned aircraft systems to undergo alcohol and psychoactive substance tests required by the Security Forces and Bodies is also established.

In addition, the proportionality of the sanctioning regime is reinforced, establishing degrees that will depend on the risks that each infraction poses for air safety, something that in the current law has "clear elements of disproportion." The deadline for resolving and notifying sanctioning procedures for serious infractions is also reduced, which goes from 18 to 12 months.

In the field of unmanned aircraft systems, the infringement regime is introduced in relation to their use, to comply with European regulations.