Customs and Excise Management Act 1979

21 Control of movement of aircraft, etc. into and out of the United Kingdom. U.K.

(1) Save as permitted by the Commissioners, the commander of an aircraft entering the United Kingdom from a place outside the United Kingdom shall not cause or permit the aircraft to land—

(a) for the first time after its arrival in the United Kingdom; or

(b) at any time while it is carrying passengers or goods brought in that aircraft from a place outside the United Kingdom and not yet cleared,

at any place other than a [F1 regulated aerodrome].

F2 (1A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(2) Save as permitted by the Commissioners, [F3 no person importing or concerned in importing] any goods in any aircraft shall bring the goods into the United Kingdom at any place other than a [F4 regulated aerodrome].

(3) Save as permitted by the Commissioners—

(a) no person shall depart on a flight to a place or area outside the United Kingdom from any place in the United Kingdom other than a [F5 regulated aerodrome]; and

(b) the commander of any aircraft engaged in a flight from a [F6 regulated aerodrome] to a place or area outside the United Kingdom shall not cause or permit it to land at any place in the United Kingdom other than a [F6 regulated aerodrome] specified in the application for clearance for that flight.

(4) Subsections (1) to (3) above shall not apply in relation to any aircraft flying from or to any place or area outside the United Kingdom to or from any place in the United Kingdom which is required by or under any enactment relating to air navigation, or is compelled by accident, stress of weather or other unavoidable cause, to land at a place other than a [F7 regulated aerodrome]; but, subject to subsection (5) below,—

(a) the commander of any such aircraft—

(i) shall immediately report the landing to an officer or constable and shall on demand produce to him the journey log book belonging to the aircraft,

(ii) shall not without the consent of an officer permit any goods carried in the aircraft to be unloaded from, or any of the crew or passengers to depart from the vicinity of, the aircraft, and

(iii) shall comply with any directions given by an officer with respect to any such goods; and

(b) no passenger or member of the crew shall without the consent of an officer or constable leave the immediate vicinity of any such aircraft.

F8 (4A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(5) Nothing in subsection (4) above shall prohibit—

(a) the departure of passengers or crew from the vicinity of an aircraft; or

(b) the removal of goods from an aircraft,

where that departure or removal is necessary for reasons of health, safety or the preservation of life or property.

[F9 (5A) A person in control of an unregulated aerodrome must take reasonable steps to secure that no aircraft lands at, or departs from, the aerodrome in circumstances in which there would be a contravention of any of subsections (1) to (3).]

(6) Any person contravening or failing to comply with any provision of [F10 subsections (1) to (4)] shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty of [F11 level 4 on the standard scale], or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, or to both.

[F12 (6A) For the purposes of this Act each of the following is a “regulated aerodrome”—

(a) a customs and excise airport, and

(b) an aerodrome approved under section 20B,

(and any other aerodrome is an “unregulated aerodrome”).]

(7) In this Act “customs and excise airport” means an aerodrome for the time being designated as a place for the landing or departure of aircraft for the purposes of the customs and excise Acts by an order made by the Secretary of State with the concurrence of the Commissioners which is in force under an Order in Council made in pursuance of [F13 section 60 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982].

[F14 (8) References in this section to a place or area outside the United Kingdom do not include references to a place or area in the Isle of Man and in subsection (3)(b) above the reference to a place in the United Kingdom includes a reference to a place in the Isle of Man.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 21(1) substituted (11.7.2023) by Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (c. 30), s. 339(4)

F2 S. 21(1A) omitted (13.9.2018 for specified purposes, 31.12.2020 in so far as not already in force) by virtue of Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (c. 22), s. 57(1)(a), Sch. 7 para. 11(2) (with savings and transitional provisions in S.I. 2020/1449, reg. 3 and 2020 c. 26, Sch. 2 para. 7(7)-(9)); S.I. 2020/1642, reg. 4(a)

F3 Words in s. 21(2) substituted (13.9.2018 for specified purposes, 31.12.2020 in so far as not already in force) by Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (c. 22), s. 57(1)(a), Sch. 7 para. 11(3) (with savings and transitional provisions in S.I. 2020/1449, reg. 3 and 2020 c. 26, Sch. 2 para. 7(7)-(9)); S.I. 2020/1642, reg. 4(a)

F4 Words in s. 21(2) substituted (11.7.2023) by Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (c. 30), s. 339(4)

F5 Words in s. 21(3)(a) substituted (11.7.2023) by Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (c. 30), s. 339(4)

F6 Words in s. 21(3)(b) substituted (11.7.2023) by Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (c. 30), s. 339(4)

F7 Words in s. 21(4) substituted (11.7.2023) by Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (c. 30), s. 339(4)

F8 S. 21(4A) omitted (13.9.2018 for specified purposes, 31.12.2020 in so far as not already in force) by virtue of Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 (c. 22), s. 57(1)(a), Sch. 7 para. 11(4) (with savings and transitional provisions in S.I. 2020/1449, reg. 3 and 2020 c. 26, Sch. 2 para. 7(7)-(9)); S.I. 2020/1642, reg. 4(a)

F9 S. 21(5A) inserted (11.7.2023) by Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (c. 30), s. 339(5)

F10 Words in s. 21(6) substituted (11.7.2023) by Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (c. 30), s. 339(6)

F11 Words substituted by virtue of (E.W.) Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), ss. 38, 46 and (S.) Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21, SIF 39:1), ss. 289F, 289G and (N.I.) by S.I. 1984/703, (N.I. 3) arts. 5, 6

F12 S. 21(6A) inserted (11.7.2023) by Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 (c. 30), s. 339(7)

F13 Words substituted by Civil Aviation Act 1982 (c. 16, SIF 9), s. 109(2), Sch. 15 para. 23

F14 S. 21(8) inserted by Isle of Man Act 1979 (c. 58), Sch. 1 para. 4

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 21 restricted (1.1.1993) by Finance (No. 2) Act 1992 (c. 48), s. 4(1)(3)(a)(6).