3 Authorities, roles and responsibilities
Photo: Avinor
Various authorities and other actors have roles and responsibilities relating to the airspace and contribute to establishing the frameworks for current and future use of the airspace. This especially relates to the Ministry of Transport, Civil Aviation Authority of Norway and Avinor in the civil context, and the Ministry of Defence and Norwegian Armed Forces in the military context. The Norwegian Space Agency has a particular responsibility for the administration of Norwegian interests relating to outer space.
A selection of government ministries and subordinate agencies that are and can become actors in the use and administration of the airspace is illustrated in Figure 3.1, below. The figure illustrates the importance of clear descriptions of responsibilities, but also that network building and defined processes must be emphasised throughout the spectrum of airspace administration and associated value chains.
The roles and responsibilities of the Norwegian authorities must also be viewed in context with the efforts of the EU to realise a common European airspace, cf. Chapter 5.
3.1 Government ministries’ roles and responsibilities
The Ministry of Transport has the overall responsibility for aviation and the Norwegian airspace and thereby for the identification and addressing of problems and trends in a comprehensive manner. The Ministry of Transport has a responsibility for the existence of a well-functioning framework for the use of the airspace, and that all users’ interests are safeguarded in an appropriate manner. The Ministry of Transport also has the overall responsibility for international cooperation and the overall responsibility for coordinating other authorities’ interests as airspace users.
The Ministry of Defence has the overall responsibility for regulatory functions associated with Norwegian state security and the international obligations Norway has entered into in respect of defence and security policy. At the same time, the Ministry of Defence supports public security and operates aircraft that safeguard regulatory functions and preparedness across several government ministries. In the event of a declared state of emergency and war, the Ministry of Defence can assume control of necessary exercising of authority that is delegated to other government ministries in peacetime. Necessary coordination of authority is planned and implemented under the Total Defence Concept.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ responsibilities are the same as for the mainland and territorial waters and not unique to the airspace and relate to the upholding of Norwegian sovereignty in and on Norwegian territory.
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security’s duties and responsibilities relate to the police’s role in the establishment of local rescue coordination centres and the closure of airspace in connection with larger accidents and occurrences. Furthermore, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centres coordinate all emergency services and Norwegian Customs conducts border surveillance.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries’ duties and responsibilities relate to the Norwegian Space Agency’s administration of space activities, as well as support for fisheries surveillance and the Norwegian Coast Guard with the aid of air resources.
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation’s duties and responsibilities relate to the Norwegian Mapping Authority and the Norwegian Communications Authority.
The Ministry of Health and Care Services’ duties and responsibilities relate to the administration and operation of the Air Ambulance Services of Norway and the Emergency Medical Communication Centres.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy’s duties and responsibilities relate to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate and associated expansion of wind turbines, power lines etc. Such installations have to be registered upon establishment and updating of overviews of aviation obstacles.
The Ministry of Climate and Environment’s duties and responsibilities relate to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the establishment of protected areas. For protected areas, the airspace above such areas will often be closed for general traffic up to 300 metres.
Figure 3.1 Actors in national airspace administration.
3.2 The Civil Aviation Authority of Norway’s role and authority as civil aviation authority
The Civil Aviation Authority of Norway has the main responsibility for oversight of Norwegian civil aviation. A key duty is to contribute to the actors in civil aviation fulfilling the requirements in the prevailing regulations. The Civil Aviation Authority of Norway approves organisations and individuals and supervises, among other things, aircraft, airlines, educational organisations, workshops, personnel, airports, air navigation services and general aviation. If necessary, the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway shall clarify and agree cooperation with other states’ aviation authorities regarding approval and oversight of organisations operating in Norway.
In step with the developments in the sector, the roles and functions of agencies are developing with the objective of optimal administration and in accordance with expectations, needs and challenges for modern aviation and airspace administration.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Norway also has directorate duties and shall, among other things, assist the Ministry of Transport in the regulatory work and establish regulations in areas where it has been delegated authority. Furthermore, the supervisory authority shall, among other things, assist the Ministry of Transport in the EEA work in accordance with the Ministry’s EEA Strategy and other guidelines for this work.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Norway is the national airspace authority. This entails authority to determine how the airspace shall be organised. There are continuous developments in the sector with additional users, technology development, digitalisation, intensified international processes and more complex conditions in the airspace. It is crucial that the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway has sufficient resources and competence to be able to handle the continuous developments. The Civil Aviation Authority of Norway shall also have dialogue with the Ministry of Transport regarding policy priorities for the use of the airspace for various societal purposes. It must be considered in greater detail what kind of authority the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway shall have in a situation where preparedness legislation takes effect.
It is being considered whether the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway should not only be designated authority for the administration of the conventional airspace, but also for activities relating to outer space. From an airspace perspective and based on an overall assessment of the state’s resources, there are a lot of arguments in favour of the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway being designated the role of administrative and supervisory authority pursuant to a new space act. The Civil Aviation Authority of Norway already has broad competence regarding airspace and questions relating to boundary-setting between the ordinary airspace and outer space.
3.3 Avinor AS
Avinor AS is a limited liability company where the state, represented by the Ministry of Transport, owns 100 per cent of the shares and the Ministry is the company’s general meeting. Avinor Air Navigation Services AS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Avinor AS. The Group is hereinafter referred to as Avinor. Avinor is categorised as a company with sector-specific objectives.3 Approximately half of Avinor’s revenue has in recent years derived from fees the airlines have paid for the services provided by Avinor. The remainder of the revenue has derived from its business operations in connection with the airports. The company has been self-financed, and revenue from commercially profitable airports has contributed to funding commercially unprofitable airports and social obligations. The air navigation services have been funded through air navigation service fees, payments for services from airport activities, intra-group coverage of expenses for services that are not paid for by external recipients, and commercial and contractual payments from external service recipients.
Avinor’s social mission is to own, operate and develop a nationwide network of airports for civil and military aviation. Furthermore, Avinor shall perform what is referred to as social obligations, as determined by its owner. Social obligations are obligations which Avinor is ordered to perform, and that are not necessary to carry out its social mission and that do not follow from acts and regulations.
Regarding air navigation services, Avinor has been designated general obligations and authority through a designation decision. It follows from the designation decision that: “Avinor shall ensure that both civil and military needs for air navigation services are covered. Avinor may be ordered to safeguard defence and preparedness duties beyond the duties with a direct legal basis in Section 13-9 of the Aviation Act. Possible financial compensation shall be determined in each individual case.” Furthermore: “Avinor undertakes to at all times have sufficient competence and capacity to meet the demand for the services that are covered by the designations. The requirements in the first sentence shall cover the demand from both civil and military users.”
The areas of control tower, approach control and air navigation services have been competitively tendered, and at Ålesund Airport and Kristiansund Airport, the services are provided by the Spanish company Saerco. The en-route services are not competitively tendered and Avinor Air Navigation Services AS has been designated by the Ministry of Transport as the supplier of such services until 2024.
Avinor Air Navigation Services AS has been assigned responsibility for a part of the national core duties for the aviation system in Norway to function in accordance with its social mission, including:
- Duties that follow from the monopoly situation (e.g., air traffic controller education)
- Duties of an administrative nature (e.g., technical advice to the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway and Ministry of Transport)
- Various core duties for airports or other areas of activity (e.g., key network services, surveillance data etc.)
In order to ensure efficiency, the order, funding and responsibility to perform the social obligations must be organised in a manner that provides incentives for the duties to be performed in a cost-effective manner. The state also cannot impose on Avinor a scope of social missions and social obligations that within efficient operations cannot be solved with the traffic and revenue envisioned after the pandemic. The parts of Avinor that are competitively tendered should not be charged for possible social obligations in a different manner than its competitors.
3.4 The Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA)
The Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) is “the state’s strategic, coordinated and executing agency to ensure efficient use of outer space in the best interests of Norwegian society”.
NOSA, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, is a directorate for the Ministry of Transport in cases concerning coordination responsibility for the civil navigation policy. NOSA is a key agency and an important Norwegian expert environment pertaining to satellite-based solutions utilised by aviation and on which it increasingly depends.
NOSA has important duties relating to the safeguarding of Norwegian membership in the European Space Agency (ESA) and the EU’s space programmes. Many of these duties interface with both the Ministry of Transport’s and Ministry of Defence’s areas of responsibility. There is dialogue between the Ministry of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Transport regarding the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway as the supervisory authority for space activities.
NOSA also has the secretariat function for the inter-ministerial space/space safety committees and therefore has the possibility to cooperate and coordinate with the ministries in matters that affect activities in these programmes.
3.5 The Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MET)
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MET) is an institution that is responsible for Norway’s public meteorological service for civil and military purposes. The institute is a public administrative body with special authorities, subordinate to the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
The duties of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute are to prepare weather forecasts, study Norway’s climate and issue climatological reports, and collect meteorological data in Norway, adjacent seas and on Svalbard. MET has been designated by the Ministry of Transport to provide aviation weather services. The aviation weather service is a special service that provides weather forecasts and weather reports adapted to aviation. Within Norway’s area of responsibility, the service is delivered on assignment from Avinor and the Norwegian Armed Forces pursuant to established agreements. The aviation weather service is part of the air navigation services and is subject to strict requirements regarding content and quality. The most important duties of an aviation weather service is monitoring of the airspace regarding dangerous weather conditions. Warnings are to be issued when necessary. Furthermore, routine warnings adapted to users and needs are provided.
3.6 The Norwegian Armed Forces’ role and authority as military aviation authority
The Norwegian Armed Forces has an independent responsibility with multiple roles and duties relating to the military component of aviation and airspace use, especially in times of crisis and war.
The Norwegian Armed Forces has in recent years undergone increasing formalisation, as expressed, among other places, in the document Norwegian Military Airspace Requirements (NoMAR) and through the meeting fora North European Functional Airspace Block Military Committee (NEFAB CMC), Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) “Easy Access Declaration” and the national strategy for determining Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT Strategy, cf. Chapter 7.2). The Norwegian Armed Forces also safeguards the host responsibility for allied state aircraft that operate in the Norwegian airspace.
The Chief of Defence (CoD) is the country’s highest ranking military official and the Norwegian Government’s and Minister of Defence’s closest military advisor in times of peace, crisis and war. The CoD is responsible for the military defence of the country being planned and prepared in cooperation with allied military authorities. The CoD is responsible for preparedness and mobilisation preparations in the Norwegian Armed Forces and is to monitor corresponding activities in civil bodies. The CoD is to contribute to the coordination of military and civil plans and that they in the best possible manner contribute to the country’s total defence. The CoD is to implement the preparedness measures indicated by the situation within the CoD’s authority (cf. Instructions for the Chief of Defence).
With a legal basis in the Aviation Act and regulated in more detail in regulations, the Chief of Defence is the military aviation authority. The aviation authority does not cover regulation of airspace. This is the responsibility of the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway.
The Chief of the Norwegian Air Force is an aviation authority, airport operator and airspace user and administrator in times of peace, crisis and war.
The Air Operational Inspectorate (AOI) is an independent part of the Norwegian Air Force and is the Military Aviation Authority (MAA) corresponding to the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway (CAA).
Furthermore, the Norwegian Armed Forces shall keep a military aircraft register (delegated to the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA)) and shall determine rules regarding, among other things, requirements for airworthiness and crew. The military aviation authority can determine rules regarding certification of personnel relating to military aviation.
The Chief of the Norwegian Air Force is also an aircraft operator through its structure of military air wings and squadrons. These are led by air wing chiefs who have the command of subordinate squadrons. Air wing chiefs can also be airport managers where this has been decided.
The Chief of the National Air Operation Centre (NAOC) reports to the Chief of the Norwegian Air Force and exercises tactical command of air operative forces on behalf of the Norwegian Air Force and also safeguards planning, coordination, management and execution of the Norwegian Air Force’s operative defence capability development activities coordinated with the Chief of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters (NJHQ). The Chief of the NAOC has the host responsibility for all military state aircraft operating in Norwegian airspace and the command of assigned allied forces.
3.7 Strategy
The Norwegian Government will:
- Facilitate the integration of the Norwegian Armed Forces’ needs and requirements in the public administration and provision of services, including military requirements for airspace administration, and requirements for competence and certification to manage national and allied military operations.
- Assess new arenas for cooperation across sectors to contribute to the safeguarding of the state’s overall needs in the airspace.
- Review and update the current system for funding of airspace services.