2018 - Financing Aviation Safety and Security in the Pacific Islands

Paper to 2018 Transportation Research Board Conference.

The aviation sector provides essential national, regional and international connectivity within the Pacific Island Countries, and onwards to Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. Ensuring that appropriate safety and security levels are met is a challenge in two areas: (i) the specialized nature of aviation places a high burden on small island states with limited human resources; and, (ii) ensuring sufficient funding for safety and security oversight and investments. This paper describes how a regional ‘Safety and Security Levy’ was implemented in five countries to improve safety and security oversight and operations. The levy is collected by airlines and allocated using an agreed disbursement framework between the regulator and the airport operator. The paper describes in detail the rationale for the regional levy, the mechanism by which it is collected, and the approach for disbursement. It has been found to be very effective and can be replicated in other jurisdictions facing similar challenges.