PART I | Citation and commencement |
| 1. These Rules may be cited as the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (Price Control of Aeronautical Charges) Rules 2009 and shall come into operation on 1st July 2009. |
2.—(1) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires —| “aeronautical charge” means any charge imposed by an airport licensee for an airport for the provision of aeronautical services and facilities at that airport; |
| “aeronautical services and facilities” has the meaning assigned in rule 3; |
| “airside area” includes the movement area of an airport and any other part of an airport to which a person is denied access unless in possession of a valid flight ticket or boarding card or such other identification issued or approved by the Authority; |
| “amend” means omit any matter, insert or add any matter, or omit any matter and substitute any other matter; |
“designated airport users”, in relation to an airport, means —| (a) | such commercial airline landing at and departing from the airport; | | (b) | such person providing ground-handling services at the airport; and | | (c) | such persons using airport services and facilities at the airport, or such organisation representing such persons, |
| as the Authority shall designate under rule 9 or 19 for each regulatory period applicable to the airport licensee for that airport; |
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| “determination” means a decision of the Authority under section 52(1) of the Act in respect of any aeronautical charges at any airport, and includes a determination for the first regulatory period; |
| “determination for the first regulatory period” means any maximum price approved by the Authority immediately upon the commencement of Division 4 of Part IV of the Act for the first regulatory period, being the maximum price referred to in section 52(3) of the Act; |
| “first regulatory period” means the period starting from 1st July 2009 and ending on 31st March 2012; |
| “inquiry” means an inquiry under these Rules for the purpose of the Authority making a determination in respect of the airport licensee for any airport for any particular regulatory period; |
| “landside area” means such part of an airport that is not within the airside area of the airport; |
| “non-aeronautical charge” means any charge imposed by an airport licensee for an airport for providing non-aeronautical services and facilities at that airport; |
| “non-aeronautical services and facilities” has the meaning assigned in rule 4(1); |
| “notice of aeronautical services and facilities pricing” means the notice given under rule 10(1) or 20(1); |
| “pass-through event” means an event (such as a tax event) which, in the opinion of the Authority, requires that the maximum revenues specified in a determination should be adjusted; |
| “price variation trigger” means an event or events the happening of which would entitle the Authority to initiate an inquiry with a view to amending a determination for a regulatory period before the end of the regulatory period; |
“regulatory period” means —| (a) | the period starting from 1st July 2009 and ending on 31st March 2012, which is the first regulatory period; and | | (b) | thereafter, every subsequent period of 5 years each; |
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“relevant tax” means a tax, charge, levy, duty or an imposition that is directly attributable to the provision of a service or facility specified in a determination and, in the opinion of the Authority, is not normally absorbed by businesses in a fully competitive market, but does not include —| (a) | an income tax or a property tax; or | | (b) | a fine or other penalty; |
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| “security services and facilities” has the meaning assigned in rule 4(2); |
“tax event”, in relation to a determination, means —| (a) | the imposition on an airport licensee of an obligation to pay an amount which —| (i) | it was not obliged to pay at the time the determination was made; or | | (ii) | arises from the imposition of a relevant tax; |
| | (b) | a change in the manner in which, or the rate at which, a relevant tax is calculated which results in a change in an amount an airport licensee is required to pay, whether directly or by reason of an adjustment under a contract of an amount payable under that contract, in respect of relevant taxes from the amount it was so required to pay at the time the determination was made; or | | (c) | the removal of a relevant tax which results in a change in an amount an airport licensee is required to pay, whether directly or by reason of an adjustment under a contract of an amount payable under that contract, in respect of relevant taxes from the amount it was so required to pay at the time the determination was made; |
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“unregulated services and facilities”, in relation to an airport licensee for an airport, means the provision of services and facilities by the airport licensee —| (a) | which are not necessary for the efficient operation and maintenance of civil aviation at the airport; or | | (b) | which the airport licensee does not have the market power of a monopoly or near monopoly in Singapore as a provider of such services and facilities or can be competitively offered in Singapore. |
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| (2) Where a person together with one or more other persons, by any contract or other arrangement between them, provide services or facilities subject to the joint control of the parties to that contract or arrangement so as to obtain individual benefits for the parties, whether in the form of a share of the output of the arrangement or joint or collective profits for all the parties, any reference in these Rules to a person who provides services or facilities includes a reference to all those parties. |
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| Meaning of “aeronautical services and facilities” |
3.—(1) In these Rules, “aeronautical services and facilities”, in relation to an airport licensee for an airport, means all or any of the following services or facilities provided by the airport licensee for that airport:| (a) | those services and facilities provided at the airport that are essential to the operation and maintenance of civil aviation at the airport, and includes each service or facility that is —| (i) | mentioned in an item in Part I of the First Schedule (aircraft-related); or | | (ii) | mentioned in an item in Part II of the First Schedule (passenger-related); |
| | (b) | such other services and facilities provided at the airport which the Authority certifies under rule 5 as a service that the airport licensee has the market power of a monopoly or near monopoly in Singapore as a provider of such service. |
| (2) For the avoidance of doubt, aeronautical services and facilities do not include air navigation services. |
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| Meaning of “non-aeronautical services and facilities” and “security services and facilities” |
4.—(1) Except as otherwise provided under rule 5, “non-aeronautical services and facilities”, in relation to an airport licensee for an airport, means those services and facilities provided at the airport that are neither —| (a) | aeronautical services and facilities; | | (b) | security services and facilities; nor | | (c) | unregulated services and facilities, |
| and includes each service or facility that is mentioned in an item in the Second Schedule. |
| (2) In these Rules, “security services and facilities”, in relation to an airport licensee for an airport, means each service or facility that is mentioned in an item in the Third Schedule and provided by the airport licensee for the airport. |
| (3) For the avoidance of doubt, non-aeronautical services and facilities and security services and facilities do not include air navigation services. |
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| Re-classifying services and facilities, etc. |
5.—(1) Subject to this rule, the Authority may at any time certify any non-aeronautical service or facility or any security service or facility provided by an airport licensee to be within the meaning of aeronautical services and facilities if the Authority is of the opinion that —| (a) | the airport licensee exercises the market power of a monopoly or near monopoly in Singapore as a provider of that service or facility; and | | (b) | the promotion of competition, efficiency or the public interest requires the making of the certification. |
| (2) The Authority may at any time cancel a certification under paragraph (1) in respect of a service or facility if the Authority is of the opinion that the airport licensee no longer exercises the market power of a monopoly or near monopoly in Singapore as a provider of that service or facility. |
| (3) Subject to this rule, the Authority may at any time recommend to the Minister that any non-aeronautical service or facility provided by an airport licensee to be re-classified as security service or facility, and vice versa. |
(4) Before making a certification under paragraph (1), or cancelling any such certification under paragraph (2), and before making any recommendation under paragraph (3), the Authority must —| (a) | give written notice of its intention to make the certification, cancellation or recommendation, as the case may be, and the reasons for doing so, to each airport licensee providing the service or facility in question; | | (b) | publish the giving of such a notice in such daily newspapers circulating in Singapore as the Authority considers appropriate; and | | (c) | allow the airport licensee to make written submissions to the Authority with respect to the matter within such reasonable time as is specified in that notice. |
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(5) Upon any certification under paragraph (1) or cancellation of any such certification under paragraph (2), or upon any recommendation under paragraph (3), the Authority must, within 7 days after the certification or cancellation or recommendation, as the case may be, give notice thereof —| (a) | by giving a copy of its decision to the airport licensee concerned; and | | (b) | by publishing a notice of its decision in the Gazette. |
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| (6) A certification under paragraph (1) takes effect on the day the notice of the certification is published in the Gazette or on a later day specified in the notice. |
| (7) A cancellation of any certification under paragraph (2) takes effect on the day the Second or Third Schedule is amended for that purpose. |
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