Regulatory Development: Modernising Qatar's Aerodrome Regulations

In 2016, the State of Qatar commenced a program to align it’s aviation safety regulations with the European aviation regulatory framework. New EU-based aerodrome regulations were initially promulgated in 2017 but the application of parts of this model were not possible in the Qatari context. Over the next two years, I analysed the local environment and, with the help of my colleagues, developed some appropriate solutions which I formulated into the European model. These amended regulations were promulgated in March 2020.

State Providers

Like many jurisdictions, Qatar has transitioned its main airports from a state-run operating model to a privatised airport company model. However, not all aspects of airport operation were or have been moved to the airport company. Most notably being the aerodrome rescue and fire-fighting service (ARFFS).

The ARFFS has remained part of the Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA), albeit separate from the regulatory arm of the organisation.

Early versions of the regulations and most versions of international guidance, don’t make allowance for such organisations in their certification and oversight systems. Instead, the aerodrome operator is generally made accountable for the compliance of these organisations without little consideration for the power needed to effect change where safety issues are identified.

With the help of a colleague, we created the state provider concept. In a nutshell, state providers are those government entities the state has made responsible for some aspect of the scope of certification defined in the aerodrome regulations (typically the same as Annex 14 and associated ICAO guidance material).

In these instances, the regulation impose obligations on the state entity to be party to the certification process, contribute to and abide by the aerodrome manual and be subject to oversight in a manner similar to the aerodrome operator. These obligations replicate industry best practice for organisations working together and the general approach being undertaken by the relative organisations at the time.

Tiered Approach

One of the most powerful aspects of the EU-based aviation safety model is the tiered approach to regulatory compliance.

At the top are a relatively limited number of regulations. These requirements are generally high level in their nature and should be generally applicable to all aviation participants - in our case, aerodrome operators. In terms of page numbers the regulations are now just 52 pages (down from 270 pages).

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the other requirements were discarded completely. Most of these requirements, usually the more detailed aspects of Annex 14, are outlined in Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMCs). The relationship between the AMCs and the regulations is pretty simple - if you do what the AMCs say, you will automatically comply with the associated regulation.

In Qatar, the language of our legal system makes compliance with the AMCs mandatory by default but the Alternative Means of Compliance (AltMoC) avenue is also available. This means that if you have developed a different (hopefully, better) way of meeting the requirements of a regulation, you can apply for approval of your AltMoC. This application must be supported by a robust safety assessment including appropriate risk assessment and mitigation measures.

There is also a third tier with some regulations and AMCs supported by Guidance Material (GM). These provisions provide additional supporting information and guidance. They include things like training syllabi, explanations and industry best-practice.

On the physical characteristics side of things, a set of Certification Specifications were developed to form the foundation of what is called the Certification Basis. As part of this project, one of my colleagues reviewed the EU-based specifications against recent ICAO Annex 14 amendments as well as incorporated Annex 14 Volume 2’s heliport requirements.

Completing the Picture

For a sovereign state like Qatar, the EU-model model is incomplete. As a “super-state”, the EU regulations are limited to larger aerodromes involved in international civil aviation. Where a state has domestic operations, it needs to fill that gap.

Within the new regulatory suite, we developed two lower levels of aerodromes - domestic public-use and domestic private-use. Broadly speaking, the former go through a “declaration” process and the latter become “registered” aerodromes.

New provisions were developed along the model of the EU regulations with new Authority Requirements (AR) and Organisation Requirements (OR) for each new category of aerodrome. These lower lever aerodromes have fewer regulatory requirements in both areas but with appropriate, risk-based provisions allowing for increase regulatory oversight and action.

Making it Happen

The work of the last two years was not carried out in isolation. In the early stages, a great deal of formal and informal consultation was carried out with the primary aerodrome operator and other stakeholders, including state providers, at the airport. As the nature of the required work became clearer, I moved the project into the formal setting of a regulatory development project under the QCAA.

Once my proposal to the Technical Review Committee (TRC) had been approved, I developed the necessary notice of amendment documents for issuing to the industry and the public for comment. The regulation’s notice was issued in July 2019 and the AMC & GM notice in October 2019.

Both notices received good feedback which was taken into consideration before two industry seminar were held. I presented the feedback and responses at those forums with some discussions becoming quite passionate. Following the first seminar, we moved into focussed consultation with our key stakeholders and over a period of three months we held a number of meetings to discuss the proposed changes.

The final regulations and comment response documents were delivered to the President for his approval in early March 2020. They were signed and promulgated on the 8th March 2020.