Cap. 641 Art. 4Functions of Directorate.

(1) The Directorate shall be the competent authority charged with the exclusive right to regulate the navigation of aircraft over the Maltese airspace and the technical compliance requirements for aircraft registered in Malta and their operation.

(2) The Directorate shall ensure that Malta acts consistently in conformity with the obligations placed on Malta under the Chicago Convention, including its Annexes and Standards and Recommended Practices.

(3) The Directorate shall ensure that European Union Regulations in the field of aviation safety are applied consistently, without discriminating against citizens of the European Union and of EEA States, and in accordance with accepted international standards and guidance material issued by the Agency.

(4) The Directorate shall ensure the safe operation of aircraft that fall outside the scope of the Basic Regulation, having regard however to the limited risk they pose to civil aviation safety and the lighter regulatory regime accorded to them by the said Regulation.

(5) The Directorate shall ensure that applicable aircraft and their engines, propellers, parts and non-installed equipment comply with the environmental protection requirements contained in Annex 16 to the Chicago Convention as regards noise and emissions compliance.

(6) The Directorate shall ensure continued monitoring of operations under its own safety oversight and responsibility and ensure proper coordination with other competent authorities where responsibilities are shared or when sharing of safety information is required.

(7) The Directorate shall establish a reporting system to facilitate the collection of details of reported occurrences and their analysis in order to identify the associated safety hazards and take any preventive and corrective action required for safety improvement, as deemed necessary.

(8) The Directorate shall cooperate in the fullest manner with the national aviation authorities of other Contracting States as well as the Agency and shall, for this purpose, adopt adequate internal measures for the communication of information which it is required to exchange in accordance with European Union Regulations and the Chicago Convention.