The Civil Aviation Authority is a Crown entity responsible to the Minister of Transport. Civil aviation in New Zealand operates within a system established and maintained by the Civil Aviation Act 1990.

We're governed by the Authority – a five member board appointed by the minister to represent the public interest in civil aviation.

The Authority appoints our chief executive, who’s also the Director of Civil Aviation. As well as the functions and powers delegated by the Authority, the Director has powers conferred by the Act, which are performed independently of both the Minister of Transport and the Authority.

The Authority is also responsible for the governance of the Aviation Security Service.

We're funded by a number of sources, including a small levy on airlines, based on their number of passengers per sector. We also charge for our services, including those provided to the Government.

Authority leadership team