Legal Issues on Protection of Electromagnetic Environment of Civil Airports: Based on Revision and Enforcement of Amendment to Regulation on the Management of Civil Airports

Electromagnetic environmental protection is an important system to ensure the operational safety of civil airports, which has had a sound legal foundation and law enforcement mechanism in China. However, with the new practice of radio interference activities and the application of new navigation technologies in civil aviation, the current system of electromagnetic environmental protection for civil airports needs to be revised and improved accordingly. From the perspective of statutory revision, the Regulation on the Management of Civil Airports should include a detailed list of the drones and radio signal jamming equipment prohibited to be used at airports and nearby areas, and expand the object of electromagnetic environmental protection to "the radio frequencies related to civil aviation" from "the radio frequencies exclusively used for civil aviation". In terms of law enforcement, the involvement of relevant civil aviation authorities should be fully guaranteed in the joint law enforcement mechanism. The radio management body shall strictly implement the protection for aircraft and other public safety-related frequencies according to the Radio Regulation of the People's Republic of China and Regulation on the Management of Civil Airports and related legislations. "Corrective action instructions" shall not be ordered as a pre-procedure for "administrative fines". Tough penalties shall be imposed on the full chain of activities by interfering equipment, so as to maximize the protection of electromagnetic environment of civil airports.