Clause 12 - Advance determinations
Civil Aviation Bill
10:00 am
Nigel Mills (Amber Valley, Conservative)
I am grateful for that. I was trying not to come up with a realistic example, but to think of one situation at the moment where there might be a significantly powerful airport that does not yet exist, and where there might be a need for a power to regulate a situation that does not yet exist. I was trying to be helpful.
I suppose it is possible that a huge number of airlines could leave and go to Luton, giving Luton a power that it does not yet have—in the package holiday market or similar situation—that would mean that the regulator would have to act in advance. Even in that situation, however, legal agreements would be in place that could be triggered when airlines were going to move.
Will the Minister explain exactly what she means by “circumstances” and exactly how the CAA could justify an advance determination without there being some abuse?