SCAA to separate into two legal entities |10 November 2021

The press conference (Photo: Patrick Joubert)

Following the approval of a bill by cabinet on October 20,2021 for the separation of the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) into two separate legal entities – a new Civil Aviation (Hijacking and other offences) Bill, 2021 and a new Civil Aviation (Investigation of Aircraft Accident and Incident) Regulations, 2021 – a delegation from the Ministry of Transport and from SCAA held a press conference yesterday morning at the ministry’s headquarters, Botanical House, to further explain the bills.

Present were Transport Minister Antony Derjacques, principal secretary for Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Alain Renaud; the chief executive of SCAA, Gary Albert; SCAA chairman Marlon Orr and legal officers and policy representatives of the ministry and SCAA.

With regard to the separation of SCAA into two legal entities, one (the SCAA) is to become a regulatory and oversight body for safety, security and civil aviation operations in our jurisdictions while the second (the Airport Authority) will become service provider for air navigation, fire and rescue, security and passenger welfare in the general operations of the airport on a commercial basis.

Minister Derjacques said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) stipulates that States have to ensure effective and independent safety oversight by the Civil Aviation Authority in its role as the regulator. A clear separation of functions and responsibilities between the regulatory authority and the service provider needs to be established, including mechanisms to avoid perceived, potential or actual conflicts of interest.

So the key objective by the government of Seychelles is to further develop the Seychelles International Airport to derive maximum commercial opportunities and provide for growth and a travel experience commensurate with the Seychelles tourism and national culture brand.

It is important to note that currently the Ministry of Transport with the SCAA are exploring the development of a project for the renovation of the airport, which will include the further development of commercial activities.

The Airport Authority will therefore be the entity responsible to oversee the commercial activities, which will be carried out by private entities. The level of investment required will invariably require third party participation and this may be in many forms. Irrespective of modality of the collaboration, the combined regulatory and oversight function of the SCAA and a pure commercial investment cannot co-exist.

Cabinet has approved to go forth with the planning for the separation of the Regulatory authority and the Service Provider, to amend the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority Act, 2005, and establish a new Airport Authority under an Airport Authority Act, 2021

“We expect more efficiencies and we expect the airport authority to become much more commercial, to provide more jobs and to provide satisfaction not only to our tourists but to the general population travelling through the Seychelles International Airport and utilising all the flights into Seychelles,” Minister Derjacques commented on the separation.

The two entities will have a board and chief executive officers. All SCAA workers in their current job will be absorb into the new entities. The SCAA has both a Regulatory/Inspectorate arm and Service provision arm. The Regulatory Authority arm of the SCAA is the Safety and Security Department. The Service Provision arm of the SCAA includes Airport Services (Mahé and Praslin) and Air Navigation Services. Both functions remain within the same organisation reporting to the same chief executive officer. Moreover, a situation exists where one department is certifying and conducting safety and security oversight of another department within the same organisation.

This does not comply to the fundamental requirement and essence of clear separation between regulatory/oversight and service provider/operator function and this has been raised by ICAO in successive audits of Seychelles as part of the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP).

The Hijacking Act of 1971 (Overseas Territories) Order, 1971 will be repealed and replaced with a Civil Aviation (Hijacking and Other Offences) Bill to cater for the transposition of the provisions of the International Conventions and associated Protocols referred herein, relating to Hijacking and other offences which Seychelles has acceded to.

The Bill ensures Seychelles compliance with ICAO standards and makes it an offence for a person to commit the act of hijacking of an aircraft within Seychelles in tandem with domestication of the provisions of the aforementioned international instruments that Seychelles have acceded to, along with any other acts which poses a threat to the aviation industry, airport, aircraft, civil aviation authority etc.

Some of these acts include: using civil aircraft as a weapon to cause death, injury or damage; using civil aircraft to discharge biological, chemical and nuclear (BCN) weapons or similar substances to cause death, injury or damage; using BCN weapons or similar substances to attack civil aircraft; unlawful transport of BCN weapons or certain related material; unlawful transport of explosive or radioactive material for terrorist purposes; a cyber-attack on air navigation facilities among others.

The Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations, 1971 will be repealed and replaced with a Civil Aviation (Investigation of Aircraft Accident and Incident) Regulations, 2021 which caters for the transposition of all the latest amendments to the Convention on International Civil Aviation’s Annex 13 standards. It does not satisfactorily incorporate the latest amendment standards under Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention and needs urgent modernisation to satisfy the standards therein.

Minister Derjacques noted that despite the numerous protocols and conventions dating way back from 1944 to new principles in 2020, our laws have not been domesticated meaning we have not adopted international treaties and conventions to enforce the new international crimes and activities that surround us.

“So we have a scheme to change SCAA, to modernise it, to upgrade it, to make it more efficient and more professional. This will not lead to any reduction in jobs but rather lead to more job and wealth creation and will further enhance the number of tourists and visitors using the airlines and the airport,” he said.

Minister Derjacques said that all of our aviation laws date back to the colonial times and the changes, precisely in the two aviation bills to provide more safety and security, will bring us in line with international norms and best practices.

Patrick Joubert/Press release from the Ministry of Transport