The Airports Act 1986 (c. 31) is an
Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act reformed
civil aviation in
Great Britain and
privatised the
British Airports Authority from a public department into
BAA as a private company.
It also granted additional regulatory powers to the
Civil Aviation Authority
A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register.
Role
Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...
(CAA).
Effect
The British Airports Authority was established in 1965 by the Airports Authority Act 1965 to take management of the UK's larger airports into public ownership under a government authority. The Airports Act 1986 transferred the powers relating to running government owned airports from the British Airports Authority from the public sector to the private sector as part of a
Conservative Party government policy of privatisation.
BAA plc. was created as a result of the act to take over the authority's responsibilities.
The act also granted statutory authority to the CAA to continue to regulate civil aviation in the United Kingdom as well as BAA.
At the time of passage, BAA became responsible for
London Heathrow Airport,
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Hea ...
,
London Stansted Airport,
Glasgow Prestwick Airport,
Glasgow International Airport,
Edinburgh Airport and
Aberdeen Airport.
The act only applied to Great Britain and does not apply to
Northern Ireland.
The act also included a number of miscellaneous provisions that were eventually mirrored in airport
bylaw
A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...
s. This had the effect of making breaches of airport bylaws punishable under
criminal law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
. An example of this was in 2016 where two people were arrested and charged for being "drunk or under the influence of drugs or other intoxicating substances" in "a restricted area of the airport" contrary to Sections 63 and 63.1 of the Airports Act.
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Great Britain
Airports in the United Kingdom
Privatisation in the United Kingdom
1986 in British law
Civil aviation in the United Kingdom