Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the last date was on which the Civil Aviation Authority conducted a campaign to (a) raise awareness of the dangers of illegal public transport operations and (b) guide consumers on what to look for when chartering an aircraft to ensure the flight is legal; how many illegal operators were identified; how many successful prosecutions there were of illegal operators arising from that campaign; what the outcomes were; how many airfields were revealed to be hosting illegal activity; and what steps (i) he and (ii) the CAA has taken to place an obligation on airfield operators to report suspicions of illegal public transport operations to the (A) CAA and (B) police.

The CAA last conducted a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of illegal public transport operations, and to guide consumers on what to look for when chartering an aircraft to ensure the flight is legal, in 2013. The CAA is planning further work to educate consumers about the rules, and the potential risks of illegal charter flights.

It is not possible to link work aimed at raising awareness directly to specific enforcement actions. The CAA will prosecute people where there is sufficient evidence, and where it is in the public interest to do so, but enforcement action will vary depending on the circumstances of the incident. It includes educating individuals or organisations on the regulations to avoid breaches, a formal warning, the revocation of licences, approvals or certificates, or criminal investigations and prosecutions.

The CAA publishes the detail and outcome of all successful prosecutions since 2005 on its website at https://www.caa.co.uk/Our-work/About-us/Enforcement-and-prosecutions/. These include successful prosecutions for illegal public transport. Earlier this year, the CAA assisted with the prosecution of an individual in the Manchester Crown Court for, among other things, illegal public transport.

Both the CAA and the police encourage the reporting of potential illegal activity at airfields and provide a number of channels, including confidential reporting, for concerns to be reported.