Grounding Unregulated Aeronautical Fees

Lourens, Elizabeth

Grounding Unregulated Aeronautical Fees

Thesis / Dissertation

2026

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

School For Advanced Legal Studies

Faculty

Faculty of Law

Abstract

Supply constraints are clouding the skies for airlines, yet spaces like “The Boneyard”, the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, boast a 2,600-acre graveyard as the final resting place for over 5,000 decommissioned aircraft, including virtually every model of plane used by the US Military since World War II. Article 37 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation requires each Contracting State to undertake to collaborate in securing the highest practicable degree of uniformity in regulations, standards, procedures, and organisation in relation to aircraft, personnel, airways and auxiliary services in all matters which such uniformity will facilitate and improve air navigation. On the opposite side of the spectrum, multiple aircraft are globally detained on an annual basis under the auspices of Article 11 of this Convention. Aircraft seizure and attachments are performed in terms of the domestic laws of contracting States in which jurisdictions complainant airports are situated. The aircraft attachments as the basis of this study are premised exclusively on airport liens. The study juxtaposes and analyses the lack of uniformity in the debt collection and enforcement procedures employed to collect aeronautical charges resulting in protracted legal processes worldwide. The focal point is a fundamental lacuna in the counterbalance between the detention of aircraft seeking to secure payment of aeronautical charges in the absence of a preservation duty by airports and expedited dispute resolution procedures, rendering various aircraft redundant. The stalemate is aircraft owners' and operators' unfamiliarity with the domestic legal systems of international aerodromes regulating the attachments. Rights invoked under liens imposed by aerodromes generally arise in terms of domestic statute or the common law. Through imploring a comparative analysis of the implementation procedures of airport liens by different contracting States to the Chicago Convention, and assessing the result of the collection procedures attained, the question of whether the development of a global uniform system beneficial to aircraft preservation and expedited dispute resolution relating to the collection of outstanding aeronautical charges is investigated, seeking to find a positive outcome for both aircraft owners and airports, guided by the principles outlined in the Cape Town Convention. A succinct exploration is also conducted into preservation procedures followed during the seizure of aircraft under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) as a potential option for the preservation of aircraft attached under airport liens. As basis for the development of a Uniform Aviation Arbitration Forum, the principles on which bilateral air transport agreements such as the ‘Bermuda Agreement' and ‘Bermuda II' are premised (securing the regulation of aeronautical disputes between the two contracting States, the United Kingdom and the United States) imposing fixed periods for payment of outstanding aeronautical charges are explored, with the reservation that abandoned aircraft may be sold on public auction pursuant to the lapse of a notice period. Article 36 of the Vienna Convention is invoked in this regard for the incorporation of international law into domestic legislation to effect such uniformity. In conclusion, the basis of the bilateral agreements resulting in universal arbitration processes could serve as a platform for the development of rapid dispute resolution processes, that implement uniform legal principles and can be enacted through domestic legislation. The outcome of the study supports the establishment of a universal system which secures the aforementioned rights whilst ensuring the preservation of aircraft and resolution of disputes through adjudication by uniform arbitration forums on uniform legal principles, adopted into the domestic legislation of (agreeable) contracting States. The end goal is thus, the development and establishment of a uniform system, in terms of which aircraft attachment, impoundment, preservation, deregistration, resale and transfer can be facilitated internationally through a ‘Global Aircraft Registry' within time fixed periods, and where necessary the implementation of rapid dispute resolution processes, thereby opting for a win-win resolution in favour of the procurement, rather than the demolition of aircraft, whilst also ensuring payment of aeronautical charges due to aerodromes.

Keywords

supply

aeronautics

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