Commentary Part 1 – Airports Prohibition Section 3: Prohibition
38.If an operator of a dominant airport area located at a dominant airport does not have a licence for the dominant airport area, then section 3 states the operator is prohibited from levying charges for airport operation services.
39.“Dominant airport area” and “dominant airport” are defined in section 5.
40.The prohibition applies to all charges for airport operation services at the airport (other than those in respect of an area for which the operator has a licence), not just those levied in respect of the dominant airport area for which the licence is required. So, for example, if there was one operator of the entire airport but the area comprising the runway was the only dominant area, the operator could not levy charges for any airport operation services at the entire airport without a licence which covered the runway.
41.The licence must include a provision specifying the area covered by the licence (see section 17(1)). Therefore if a licensed operator of one dominant area at an airport became the operator of another dominant area which is not covered in its existing licence, the prohibition would apply to the newly acquired dominant area and any other area within the airport operated by that person not covered by its original licence.