Civil Aviation Bill

I declare an interest as one of three members of the flying community in this House, together with the hon. Members for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth) and for Edinburgh, South (Nigel Griffiths). I reassure hon. Members that I am not a commercial pilot, so I speak in a private capacity. I shall make two points about the Bill and one observation about general aviation. Some aspects of the Bill need to be considered a little more, as we have heard. As a pilot, I have been flabbergasted at the increase in costs at many of the launch airports, particularly for general aviation pilots. The fact that the authorities have total jurisdiction over what they charge has resulted in a sky-rocketing of some of the costs. As has been made clear on Report, there is considerable concern over the proposed financial penalties, which the authorities will also be able to set at any level without recourse to appeal. That could be damaging to aviation as a whole, because there will be an enormous temptation to use such penalties as a revenue-making scheme. I know that the legislation states that all the money should be passed to those who are perceived to be suffering ill effects, but it is not as simple as that. I hope that if the scheme shows itself to be flawed the Government will be willing to reconsider it. My second point relates to the explanatory notes. Any pilot would be concerned about paragraph 20 on page 5, which says:"““Requiring aircraft to take off or land in a given direction at a given time could also reduce the numbers of people subjected to the most severe aircraft noise.””" On the face of it, that sounds perfectly reasonable—until one realises that pilots always have to land into wind. It is the most basic requirement. So it is disturbing, to say the least, to see in the explanatory notes the implication that the direction of landing may be altered in order to reduce the discomfort of noise for local people. As far as I can see, the Government could achieve that only by introducing a scheme to alter wind direction. Unless the Prime Minister can control the weather, which even he does not pretend, the explanatory note should be modified. If it is used as an opportunity to interpret the legislation, it will make things more rather than less dangerous. Thirdly and finally, commercial aviation in this country is underpinned by general aviation, which is a multi-billion pound industry that does much to feed commercial aviation with pilots and to transport all manner of people around the country from small aerodromes. In interventions on Report, I sought reassurance—I think that I received it—that the intention of the Bill is not to influence general aviation. However, I hope that the Government will return to a couple of things that are very important to the general aviation sector. One is the question of N-registered aircraft—those registered in the United States but used in the UK for general aviation. The Minister will be aware that general aviation is very concerned about the potential for banning N-registered aircraft from the British register. There have been signs of a change of heart, suggesting that that will not happen in the short term, but I hope that the Minister will be willing to meet representatives of the general aviation sector—I see her nodding, so I will take that as a yes—in order to discuss their concerns and the rationale behind allowing N-registered aircraft to continue. Connected to that there is a concern that, as we consider safety issues, Britain should learn from the experience of the United States, which provides pilots, particularly private pilots, with the opportunity to gain a less stringent instrument-rating qualification. In the United States, 50 per cent. of private pilots have that instrument rating, but in the United Kingdom, where instrument rating is far more complicated and difficult to secure, the qualification is possessed by less than 2 per cent. of the private pilot population. That has a bearing on safety for all carriers, including civil aviation and the commercial sector, because we all share the same airspace. Again, perhaps we can raise that subject in a meeting outside the Chamber. My hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) has highlighted our concerns. I hope that the explanatory note will be clarified and that the Government will keep a close eye on changes to costs and charges after the Bill is implemented.