Written question asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 30 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 12 December 2005. It was answered by Karen Buck (Labour) on Tuesday, 13 December 2005 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Airspace (Extraordinary Rendition)

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers he has to deny access to UK airspace.

Answer: [holding answer 12 December 2005]: UK law on civil air operations is governed by the UK's obligations under the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation 1944. These obligations are translated into UK law principally through the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and the Air Navigation Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/1970).Under the Convention, contracting States may for reason of emergency, military necessity or public safety, restrict or prohibit uniformly the aircraft of other States from flying over the whole or part of its territory (Article 9).The Convention also provides that scheduled international air services and State aircraft of another contracting State may only fly over or land in UK territory with the permission or authorisation of the UK (Articles 3 and 6),and this can be denied. The UK also requires non-scheduled services where payment is made for carriage, and passengers and cargo are embarked or disembarked, to seek prior permission.All other aircraft have the right to land in or to fly across UK territory without the need to obtain prior permission from the UK (Article 5). However, the commander of each aircraft operating in controlled airspace in Europe is required to file a flight plan with Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. The flight plan is passed to each air navigation service provider along the route.

Secondary information