NPRMs open for submission

A Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) asks for comments on the proposed rule changes during a consultation period where anyone can make a submission.

About the consultation process

Public consultation on proposed rules is required under the Civil Aviation Act. The CAA drafts civil aviation rules and carries out public consultation on draft rules on behalf of the Minister of Transport.

Submissions received on draft rules are summarised and analysed. The results are published as a summary of public submissions, with a copy of the NPRM, under:

NPRMs closed for submissions

The proposed rules will be reconsidered to take into account the submissions received. If necessary, we undertake further consultation with key groups before submitting proposed rules to government.

How to make a submission

Electronic (form below, or PDF) submissions are preferred to assist in compiling, but submissions can still be sent by post, or delivered in person.

Official Information Act

Submitters should note that subject to the Official Information Act 1982, any information attached to submissions will become part of the docket file and will be available to the public for examination at the CAA offices in the Asteron Centre, 55 Featherston Street, Wellington.

Submitters should state clearly if there is any information in their submission that is commercially sensitive, or for some other reason the submitter does not want the information to be released to other interested parties. The CAA will consider this in making a decision in respect of any Official Information Act requests. It should be noted that the CAA cannot guarantee confidentiality in respect of any specific submissions.

NPRMs open for submission

NPRM 23-01 Revision 1 Assorted Issues [PDF 737 KB]

This is a second round of consultation for NPRM 23-01 Assorted Issues. After the first round of consultation we identified an administrative error in the preamble of the NPRM relating to the criteria for an issue to be included in an Assorted Issues Rule.

The submissions received in the first round of consultation have been addressed and changes incorporated into this second draft set of rules.

The purpose of this rule-making proposal is to is to make amendments to various rules that are considered not significant enough in magnitude to warrant their own rule proposal. Traditionally, there have been two categories of rule changes: Omnibus, for minor editorial and drafting changes; and standard for all others. In 2016, a third category was developed, Small Issues, to package together a suite of distinct rule changes that are not Omnibus changes but are equally not sufficiently broad in scope to justify their own stand-alone rules project. These changes are not likely, on an individual basis, to be prioritised high enough for proceeding with rule development, so for reasons of efficiency multiple such issues are combined into a single package. The name was changed to Assorted Issues as the types of issues to be included are not necessarily small in size or importance.

The Assorted Issues Rule Proposal proposes a broad range of minor amendments to CAR Parts 1, 61, 91, 121, 129, 145 and 172.  There are 10 distinct policy items in this NPRM set out below:

1. Part 61 Night Vision Imaging Systems (NVIS): Amend Part 61 Pilot Licences and Ratings to include requirements for the training in and use of NVIS.
2. Part 91 Performance-Based Communication and Surveillance (PBCS): Amend Part 91 General Operating and Flight Rules to align with Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and provide an appropriate regulatory system for aircraft operators and Air Traffic Control (ATC) providers wanting to operate using PBCS.
3. Part 91 Aircraft Call Signs: Amend Part 91 General Operating and Flight Rules to enable the use of unique call signs and replace a general exemption.
4. Part 145 Maintenance Organisation Rating Requirements: Amend Part 145 Aircraft Maintenance Organisations Certification to formalise an organisations’ document management and limit future risks associated with voluntary compliance.
5. Part 129 Foreign Aircraft Operations: Amend Part 129 Foreign Air Transport Operator Certification to provide further clarity for operators on how many take-offs or landings they may complete within New Zealand before they require a Foreign Air Operator Certificate (FAOC).
6. Part 121 Flight Attendant and Cabin Crew Ground Instructor Training Requirements: Amend Part 121 Air Operations Large Aeroplanes to include Flight Attendant and Cabin Crew Ground Instructors in Human Factors and Crew Resource Management training requirements.
7. Part 91 Helicopter Hover Entry/Exits: Amend Part 91 General Operating and Flight Rules to enable helicopter operators to conduct hover entry/exits in line with requirements to be specified in the Rules, replacing a general exemption.
8. Part 91 Definition of Introductory Flight: Amend Part 1 Definitions and Abbreviations to shift from the undefined ‘trial flight’ to a new definition of ‘introductory flight’.
9. Part 91 Definition of a Crew Member Revision: Amend Part 1 Definitions and Abbreviations to recognise a new type of crew member on board an aircraft conducing a commercial transport or hire or reward operation.
10. Part 91 Definition of Cost-Sharing Flights: Amend Part 1 Definitions and Abbreviations to more clearly define what constitutes a cost-sharing flight. 

Erratum: The version of NPRM 23-01 released on 1 July 2024 contained some errors, which have now been corrected in this version of the document. The corrections that were made are:

• Draft rule 61.155(bb)(3)(viia) has been removed, and an explanatory note added to the Summary of Changes section.
• A small number of minor numbering and grammatical issues were corrected.

Closing date is Friday 9 August at 5pm.

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