Fuji_Abound wrote:
I was charged more than three times that at Bournemouth which makes it look a bargain.
You were charged £300 for a practice approach at Bournemouth? And you paid? Tell us more.
How can one be ground handled when you haven’t even touched the ground, nor handled?
There are already many airports operating in breach of the Groundhandling Regulations 1997.
Unless they have been granted exemptions by the national authority, they can face civil action through the courts.
As this mandatory fee it isn’t even published in their schedule of charges, I’d suggest not paying that part and see if they’d ever be successful in recovering it.
James_Chan wrote:
Groundhandling Regulations 1997
Interestingly, I don’t think that this falls under the definition of Ground Handling. Can anyone spot in this list where the “handling” I received might be considered Ground Handling?
ANNEX
LIST OF GROUNDHANDLING SERVICES
1. Ground administration and supervision comprise:
1.1. representation and liaison services with local authorities or any other entity, disbursements on behalf of the airport user and provision of office space for its representatives;
1.2. load control, messaging and telecommunications;
1.3. handling, storage and administration of unit load devices;
1.4. any other supervision services before, during or after the flight and any other administrative service requested by the airport user.
2. Passenger handling comprises any kind of assistance to arriving, departing, transfer or transit passengers, including checking tickets and travel documents, registering baggage and carrying it to the sorting area.
3. Baggage handling comprises handling baggage in the sorting area, sorting it, preparing it for departure, loading it on to and unloading it from the devices designed to move it from the aircraft to the sorting area and vice versa, as well as transporting baggage from the sorting area to the reclaim area.
4. Freight and mail handling comprises:
4.1. for freight: physical handling of export, transfer and import freight, handling of related documents, customs procedures and implementation of any security procedure agreed between the parties or required by the circumstances;
4.2. for mail: physical handling of incoming and outgoing mail, handling of related documents and implementation of any security procedure agreed between the parties or required by the circumstances.
5. Ramp handling comprises:
5.1. marshalling the aircraft on the ground at arrival and departure¹;
5.2. assistance to aircraft packing and provision of suitable devices¹;
5.3. communication between the aircraft and the air-side supplier of services¹;
5.4. the loading and unloading of the aircraft, including the provision and operation of suitable means, as well as the transport of crew and passengers between the aircraft and the terminal, and baggage transport between the aircraft and the terminal;
5.5. the provision and operation of appropriate units for engine starting;
5.6. the moving of the aircraft at arrival and departure, as well as the provision and operation of suitable devices;
5.7. the transport, loading on to and unloading from the aircraft of food and beverages.
6. Aircraft services comprise:
6.1. the external and internal cleaning of the aircraft, and the toilet and water services;
6.2. the cooling and heating of the cabin, the removal of snow and ice, the deicing of the aircraft;
6.3. the rearrangement of the cabin with suitable cabin equipment, the storage of this equipment.
7. Fuel and oil handling comprises:
7.1. the organization and execution of fuelling and defuelling operations, including the storage of fuel and the control of the quality and quantity of fuel deliveries;
7.2. the replenishing of oil and other fluids.
8. Aircraft maintenance comprises:
8.1. routine services performed before flight;
8.2. non-routine services requested by the airport user;
8.3. the provision and administration of spare parts and suitable equipment;
8.4. the request for or reservation of a suitable parking and/or hangar space.
9. Flight operations and crew administration comprise:
9.1. preparation of the flight at the departure airport or at any other point;
9.2. in-flight assistance, including re-dispatching if needed;
9.3. post-flight activities;
9.4. crew administration.
10. Surface transport comprises:
10.1. the organization and execution of crew, passenger, baggage, freight and mail transport between different terminals of the same airport, but excluding the same transport between the aircraft and any other point within the perimeter of the same airport;
10.2. any special transport requested by the airport user.
11. Catering services comprise:
11.1. liaison withsuppliers and administrative management;
11.2. storage of food and beverages and of the equipment needed for their preparation;
11.3. cleaning of this equipment;
11.4. preparation and delivery of equipment as well as of bar and food supplies
¹ Provided that these services are not provided by the air traffic service
The question is, though, if it’s not Ground Handling, does that mean that I cannot appeal to the CAA and Grant Shapps?
I think the idea of not paying that part is not a bad one. But one should communicate that to them and give the reason : no handling services received. A basic principle of commerce is that one can not be charged for services not delivered/received. That should be a pretty strong position and put the onus on them to prove a service was provided. Invoicing does not, as far as I know, constitute a service to the customer. If anything, it would be a service to the billing party (ATS for their fees).
Indeed; this is what I have written:
I spoke to you about paying for a practice approach in G-???? on 23/10 and when you suggested that it would be £99, ⅔ of which was for “handling”, I said that I would take soundings in the industry.
From my initial investigations both of Norwich Airport’s Schedule of Fees and Charges and of the EU Directive The Airports (Groundhandling) Regulations 1997 there seems no grounds for you to raise this charge, indeed it may be contrary to EU law.
I have asked R**** P**** (the MD of Norwich Airport) to look into whether it is proper that these charges are raised by SaxonAir, but in the meantime I have no problem with paying for the approach itself, which, according to the Schedule, should be £27.36 + VAT = £32.83 (11.40 × 6 = 68.40, minus 60% = 27.36). Please would you raise an invoice for this amount and will then happily pay it.
The remaining £55 + VAT can be appealed through the CAA and ultimately the Secretary of State for Transport, so it could take some time, so I suggest that you mark it as “in dispute.”
Does the practice approach have to be booked via SaxonAir? If yes, they will likely argue that their service is in „coordinating with ATC“… (plus, the invoicing for their behalf).
Again, „handling“ is not a normed term, so it‘s very open to interpretation.
Looks like a good response, let us know what happens. Handling agents tend to make used car salesmen look like fine upstanding people…
I am not a lawyer but in the UK the unfair contract terms provisions may not apply. For example are the terms on their website? If so, you may have implicitly consented by flying there. This is especially a problem if your plane is company owned (as many private planes are) because in a B2B situation you can sign away your consumer rights, so a lot of protection from unfair contract terms is lost.
If this was me I would initially get the handler to confirm in writing that handling is charged even if you didn’t land.
Then, pursue it with the airport manager; it is not in his interest to have such a business (which in that case would appear to be gangsters, relying on entrapment) running a business at his airport.
If you get nowhere then write to the Company Secretary of the handler, notifying them of proceedings to obtain a County Court Judgement. 10 seconds in the usual place gets the details. Note that two of them have a surname of Dagger 
Just keep it very brief and use the abbreviation “CCJ” because that sounds like you do this day long, with absolutely no emotion involved. The scariest enemy is one without emotion. All by Special Delivery letters; only amateurs use emails for this. In business, this works some 99% of the time, and costs almost nothing.
Bournemouth wouldn’t allow an approach, so it was an approach and landing. To be fair it ended up with a little parking but still getting on for £300 for a crumby ramp at the back of beyond was the most excessive I have ever had.
Interestingly, I don’t think that this falls under the definition of Ground Handling.
I see. I suppose I was referring to paragraph 8(b), which states:
Save as otherwise provided in these Regulations, the managing body of an airport shall take the necessary measures to… (b) ensure the freedom to self-handle.
But you’re also right. What you’ve done does not appear to come under the scope of ground handling at all.. In the same way the airport should not levy you with car parking or aircraft parking fees simply because you did not park it there.
