CIVIL AVIATION 
(ROUTE CHARGES FOR NAVIGATION SERVICES) ġ S.L.333.01 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 333.01
CIVIL AVIATION (ROUTE CHARGES FOR 
NAVIGATION SERVICES) REGULATIONS
1st January, 2003
LEGAL NOTICE 386 of 2002, as amended by Legal Notice 434 of 2003.
Title.
Charges for Navigation Services) Regulations.
Interpretation.
requires:
"FIR" means "Flight information Region";
"Malta AIP" means a document in force in Malta at the date of
the making of these regulations entitled "Malta Aeronautical
Information Publication" or "Malta AIP" and published by the
Department of Civil Aviation;
Cap. 333.
"Eurocontrol" has the same meaning assigned to it by the
Eurocontrol Act;
"IFR" means Instmment Flight Rules;
"specified airspace" means the airspace of the Malta Flight
Information Region as described in the Malta AIP.
S.L. 232.05
(2) Expressions used in these regulations shall, unless the
context otherwise requires, have the same respective meanings as
in  the Air Navigation Order.
Charges to be paid 
to Eurocontrol.
3. (1) Subject to the provisions of these regulations, the
operator of an aircraft shall pay to Eurocontrol a route charge,
hereinafter referred to as "the charge", in respect of IFR flights
performed by his aircraft in the specified airspace in accordance
with the procedures laid down in application of the Standards and
Recommended Practices of the International Civil Aviation
Organization.
(2) The charge shall constitute remuneration for the costs
incurred by Malta Air Traffic Services Limited in respect of en
route air navigation facilities and services and the operation of the
Route Charges System, and for the costs incurred by Eurocontrol in
operating the System.
(3) Eurocontrol shall assess and collect the charge due and
reimburse Malta Air Traffic Services Limited in accordance with
the applicable rules.
(4) If Eurocontrol is unable, after taking reasonable steps, to
ascertain who is the operator, it may give notice to the owner of the
aircraft that it will treat him as the operator until he establishes to
the reasonable satisfaction of Eurocontrol that some other person is
the operator; and from the time when the notice is given
Eurocontrol shall be entitled, for so long as the owner is unable to
establish as aforesaid that some other person is the operator, to treat
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CIVIL AVIATION 
(ROUTE CHARGES FOR NAVIGATION SERVICES)
the owner as if he were the operator, and for that purpose the
provisions of these regulations other than this subregulation, shall
apply to the owner of the aircraft.
Calculation of the 
charge.
4. (1) The charge shall be calculated in Euro according to
the following formula:
r = n x u
where r is the charge for the flight, n is the number of service units
relating to that flight and u is the appropriate unit rate specified in
column 3 of the First Schedule. The unit rate of charge shall be re-
calculated monthly by applying the average monthly rate of
exchange betwee the Euro and the national currency for the month
preceding the month during which the flight takes place. The
exchange rate applied shall be the monthly average of the "Closing
Cross Rate" calculated by Reuters based on daily BID rate.
(2) For the purpose of the preceding subregulation, the number
of Service units relating to a flight shall be calculated in
accordance with the the following formula:
n = d x p
where d is the distance factor for the flight in the specified airspace
and p is the weight factor for the aircraft concerned.
(3) For the purposes of the preceding subregulation, the
distance factor (d) shall be obtained by dividing by one hundred
(100) the number of kilometres in the great circle distance between:
- the aerodrome of departure within, or the point of
entry into, the specified airspace
and
- the aerodrome of first destination within, or the point
of exit from, that airspace.
The aforeasaid entry and exit points shall be the points at
which the lateral limits of the specified airspace are crossed by the
route described in the flight plan. This flight plan incorporates any
changes made by the operator to the flight plan initially filed as
well as any changes approved by the operator resulting from air
traffic flow management measures.
However, for flights terminating at the aerodrome from
which the aircraft has taken off and during which no intermediate
landing has been made (circular flights), and for which the one
most distant point from the aerodrome lies within the specified
airspace, the distance factor shall be obtained by dividing by one
hundred (100) the number of kilometres in the great circle distance
between:
- the aerodrome within, or the point of entry into, the
specified airspace,
and
- the most distant point from the aerodrome
plus
the number of kilometres in the great circle distance
CIVIL AVIATION 
(ROUTE CHARGES FOR NAVIGATION SERVICES) ġ S.L.333.01 3
between:
- the most distant point from the aerodrome
and
- the aerodrome within, or the point of exit from, that
airspace.
The distance to be taken into account shall be reduced by
twenty (20) kilometres for each landing and take-off in the
specified airspace and shall be expressed to two decimal places.
(4) For the purposes of the preceding subregulation, the weight
factor (p) shall be the square root of the quotient obtained by
dividing by fifty (50) the number of metric tons in the maximum
certificated take-off weight of the aircraft as shown in the
certificate of airworthiness, the flight manual or any other
equivalent official document and shall be expressed to two decimal
places.
Where the maximum certificated take-off weight of the
aircraft is not known to the bodies responsible for the collection of
the charge, the weight factor shall be calculated by taking the
heaviest aircraft of the same type known to exist.
Where an aircraft has multiple certificated maximum take-
off weights, the weight factor shall be established on the basis of
the highest maximum take-off weight authorised for the aircraft by
its State of registration.
Where an operator has indicated to the bodies for the
collection of the charge that he operates two or more aircraft which
are different versions of the same type, the average of the
maximum take-off weights of all his aircraft of that type shall be
taken for the calculation of the weight factor for each aircraft of
that type. The calculation of this factor per aircraft type and per
operator shall be effccted at least once a year.
Payment.
Eurocontrol at its principal office in Brussels and shall be paid in
Euro.
(2) The amount of the charge is due on the date of the
performance of flight. The latest value date by which payment is to
be received by Eurocontrol shall be shown on the bill and shall be
thirty days from the date of the bill.
(3) Payment shall be deemed to have been received by
Eurocontrol on the value date on which the amount due is credited
into a designated account of Eurocontrol. The value date shall be
the date on which Eurocontroi can use the funds.
(4) Any charge which has not been paid by the latest date for
payment shall be increased by the addition thereto of interest at the
rate specified in the Second Schedule. Such interest, entitled
Interest on Late Payment, shall be simple interest calculated from
day to day on the unpaid overdue amount, and shall be calculated
and billed in Euro.
(5) Where a charge remains unpaid, measures may be taken to
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CIVIL AVIATION 
(ROUTE CHARGES FOR NAVIGATION SERVICES)
enforce recovery.
(6) Without prejudice to any existing rule of law relating to the
payment, under an order of the court, of a debt expressed in foreign
currency, the equivalent of the charge may be recovered in Maltese
liri in any court of competent jurisdiction in Malta.
(7) Eurocontrol shall consider payment into the accounts
opened in its name with banking establishments in Malta
designated by the competent bodies of the Route Charges System
as a discharge of the payer’s liability.
(8) Any aircraft operator who is a national of Malta may,
whenever payment is made by him into a designated banking
establishment situated in Malta, discharge the debt in Maltese
currency.
(9) Where an aircraft operator avails himself of the facility
referred to in the foregoing subregulation, the conversion into
Maltese currency of the euro amount shall be effected at the daily
exchange rate used in Malta for commercial transactions for the
value date.
Claims. 6. (1) Claims against bills must be submitted to Eurocontrol
in writing or by an electronic medium previously approved by
Eurocontrol. They must be detailed and should be accompanied by
any relevant supporting evidence.
(2) The latest date by which claims must be received by
Eurocontrol shall be shown on the bill and is sixty days from the
date of the bill. The date of submission of claims shall be the date
on which the claims are received by Eurocontrol.
(3) Submission of a claim by a user shall not entitle him to
make any deduction from the relevant bill unless so authorised by
Eurocontrol and no compensation payments shall be effected
without Eurocontrol’s p;rior agreement where Eurocontrol and a
user are mutually debtor and creditor.
Exempt flights. 7. These regulations shall not apply to the following flights:
(1) flights by military aircraft of any State;
(2) flights authorised by a competent Search and Rescue
body for search and rescue operations;
(3) flights performed under Visual Flight Rules; mixed
Visual Flight Rules/Instrument Flight Rules flights
shall be exempted only if the part of the flight in the
specified airspace is performed exclusively under
Visual Flight Rules;
(4) flights performed exclusively for the transport, on
official mission, of the reigning Monarch and his/her
immediate family, Heads of State, Heads of
Govemment, and Govemment Ministers. In all cases,
this must be substantiated by the appropriate status
indicator on the flight plan;
(5) training flights performed exclusively for the purpose
CIVIL AVIATION 
(ROUTE CHARGES FOR NAVIGATION SERVICES) ġ S.L.333.01 5
of obtaining a licence, or a rating in the case of cockpit
flight crew, and where this is substantiated by an
appropriate remark on the flight plan. Flights must be
performed solely within the specified airspace and
must not serve for the transport of passengers and/or
cargo, nor for positioning or ferrying of the aircraft;
(6) flights performed by aircraft of which the Maximum
Take-Off Weight Authorised is less than two metric
tons.
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CIVIL AVIATION 
(ROUTE CHARGES FOR NAVIGATION SERVICES)
(Regulation 4(1))
 
(Regulation 5(4))
The rate of interest on late payment shall be 7.32 per cent per annum.
Substituted by:
L.N. 434 of 2003 FIRST SCHEDULE
(1) (2) (3)  (4)
Country Publication in 
which FTR is 
described
Unit rate in Euro Established at the 
average September 2003 
rate of exchange
Malta Malta AIP 28.96 EUR 1 = Lm0.425745
Substituted by:
L.N. 434 of 2003 SECOND SCHEDULE
