Reasons for Proposal
With the growth of low cost carriers (LCCs) and the increase in aviation demand for domestic and short-haul international flights, there are increasing factors that undermine safe aircraft operation. Cases in point are the shortage of aircraft maintenance personnel, reduced maintenance time due to an increase in aircraft operation time with accompanying heavy workload, and flight crew and cabin crew fatigue management due to the increased number of flights.
Annex 19 of the Chicago Convention of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) prescribes that air transport service providers and airport operators must take proactive measures against factors that undermine aviation safety by comprehending them beforehand.
Accordingly, the Amendment aims to newly enact regulations regarding aviation traffic service providers and safety mileage, grant safety mileage based on the evaluation results concerning the safety grade of the international air transport service providers and airport operators, and utilize this system to improve aviation safety, thereby encouraging the international air transport service providers and airport operators to increase their efforts in safety management and enhance aviation safety.
On the same note, the Amendment aims to secure stable funding for aviation safety by specifying that the amount of penalty surcharge collected from air transport service providers under Article 92, paragraph 1 of the current Act shall be used only for the construction and operation of educational facilities for aviation safety or for subsidizing or financing it.
Furthermore, it also seeks to increase the reliability of the evaluation results by entrusting the evaluation and management of safety mileage to a specialized institution for the purpose of systematic management of safety mileage (Article 2-35, 36; Article 92, paragraph 4; Article 132-2 and Article 135, paragraph 9 newly inserted).
Major Provisions
The Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport may, as prescribed by Presidential Decree, entrust the operation under each of the following subparagraphs to the Korea Transport Institute established under the Act on the Establishment, Operation and Fostering of Government-Funded Research Institutes, etc., or to aviation-related institutions and organizations. (Article 135, paragraph 9 newly inserted).
1. Operation related to management of safety mileage under Article 132-2, paragraph 1
2. Operation related to management of safety grade under Article 132-2, paragraph 2
