Commentary on significant portions of the new Act will be found in Aviation and Space Law which is available in Westlaw New Zealand. In some cases synopses or comparisons with the 1990 Act have been provided. A brief summary of the changes brought about is found in the Introduction to the Civil Aviation Act 2023. There it is noted at [AVIntro.02] that new features are:

• A “just culture” approach to accident and incident reporting
• Drug and alcohol management
• Independent review of regulatory decisions
• Airline co-operative arrangements
• Requirements regarding carbon emissions and emission reductions

Associate Transport Minister James Meager noted and welcomed the coming into force of the new Act in his Beehive press release of 5 April (<www.beehive.govt.nz/release/modern-civil-aviation-law-comes-effect>).

The regulatory landscape has been updated with the making of new regulations, particularly the Civil Aviation (Offences) Regulations 2025 and the Civil Aviation (Independent Review Function) Regulations 2025. In addition replacement Civil Aviation Rules have been made under the 2023 Act retaining the previous rule numbering in rule parts and subparts but modernising and updating the language. While the Civil Aviation Rules are not part of Aviation and Space Law they are available in Westlaw New Zealand in the Legislation section under “Current Other Instruments” (with the rule parts found under “P”).

It will be interesting to watch developments under the new Act as they unfold and with our excellent author team we are well placed to provide commentary.