Notification of scarce capacity
4.—(1) Where the Secretary of State believes that within 6 months there will be scarce capacity on a route, she must notify the CAA of that belief.
(2) Notification under paragraph (1)—
(a)must state why the Secretary of State believes there will be scarce capacity on the route,
(b)may state what issues the Secretary of State believes the CAA will be asked to determine, and
(c)may describe the route in any manner the Secretary of State thinks fit.
(3) The Secretary of State may not give notification under paragraph (1) unless she has formed her belief after considering representations from qualifying carriers about the capacity they plan to provide.
(4) The CAA must, not later than one month after it receives the notification, publish in its Official Record a notice stating—
(a)the date from which it considers that it will be necessary to allocate scarce capacity on the route, and
(b)that it proposes to invite applications for the allocation of scarce capacity and, if necessary, hold a hearing for the purpose of determining those applications.
(5) The notice must specify—
(a)what information will be required by the CAA in connection with the application for the allocation of scarce capacity; and
(b)the closing date for applications.
(6) For the purposes of these Regulations a route becomes a capacity constrained route on the date specified under paragraph (4)(a) and remains as such until the date specified in the notice published under regulation 5(2).