New Zealand, as a contracting State to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, is required under ICAO Annex 15 to—

  1. provide an Aeronautical Information Service (AIS); or
  2. agree with one or more Contracting State(s) for the provision of a joint service; or
  3. delegate the authority for the provision of the service to a non-government agency, provided the Standards and Recommended Practices of Annex 15 are adequately met.

The purpose of AIS is to ensure the flow of information necessary for safe and efficient air navigation, both domestically and internationally. International standards and recommended practices for AIS are determined by ICAO in Annex 15.

Civil Aviation Rule Part 175 prescribes rules governing the certification and operation of organisations providing an aeronautical information service for New Zealand on behalf of the Authority; and the requirements for Aeronautical Information Publication New Zealand, Aeronautical Information Circulars and NOTAMs.

Aeropath, a subsidiary of Airways International, is the current provider of AIS and their 12-year contract expires on 30 June 2025. A project is underway to establish a new contract for Aeronautical Information Management (AIM).

This transition to AIM, in accordance with the Declaration of the Asia/Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation(external link) will support a move from a product centric aeronautical information service (AIS) to digitised aeronautical information management.

In October, following consideration of the current state, future requirements and the market related to the supply of AIM within New Zealand, the Director of Civil Aviation approved a direct-source approach working with Aeropath for the provision of the full services. CAA and Aeropath have entered a co-design process to jointly develop and agree the future service model for AIM in New Zealand.

Consultation will be undertaken over late January – February 2024 to confirm requirements, with a focus on validating AIMS CONOPS 2023 as one of the key inputs into the future requirements.

The requirements will inform the services to be provided under the new contract; these will be considered according to a range of factors including ICAO direction, user benefits, cost and potential funding models.

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