The CAA have published a consultation to learn views on changes they are considering making to their airspace change decision-making process. Their objective is to optimise their process to ensure that all stakeholders are adequately consulted as part of a transparent, proportionate process. The process should be impartial and evidence- based, and should take proper account of the needs and interests of all affected stakeholders.
The full consultation document can be downloaded here:
CAA Consultation on Proposals for a Revised Airspace Change Process March 2016
This document sets out why the CAA believe a review is necessary, and the main findings of Helios, the consultants who carried out an independent review of the process on their behalf. They explain the main principles behind the proposed changes, and, in Chapter 4, details of the specific changes they are considering to each stage of the process. They discuss the impacts they anticipate the proposed changes will have, and invite sharing of evidence so they can define these further. In Chapter 6 they also set out the statutory duties the Government has set the CAA, and how they use these in making decisions about airspace. However, this consultation is not about government policy, which is not a matter for the CAA. Neither is it about specific airspace changes that have already happened, or are currently moving through the stages of the existing process.
This consultation will close on 15 June 2016. The CAA are asking all consultees to respond through a dedicated online platform, at Citizen Space, which is designed specifically to be user-friendly for people wanting to respond to complex national and local consultations.
More detail about the objectives and scope of the consultation are set out in the introduction, along with further detail about how to respond to it.