Once again New Zealand leads Australia, with the Civil Aviation Authority announcing ADS-B rebates of up to $2,500 to help incentivise aircraft owners into upgrading legacy avionics.  New Zealand have followed the United States Federal Aviation Administration in offering rebates, helping the general aviation industry transition to ADS-B.

Meanwhile, Australian aircraft owners have been abandoned by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Airservices Australia, who have both refused to provide rebates, forcing owners to bear the full costs involved in transitioning to ADS-B.

Owners of New Zealand-registered general aviation aircraft who install appropriate ADS-B OUT equipment will be eligible for a grant of up to $2500 plus GST to help with the costs of installation. The grant will apply retrospectively, with compliant ADS-B installations since 14 June 2014also eligible.

Deputy Director, Air Transport and Airworthiness, Mark Hughes said the grant money will help ensure general aviation aircraft are able to operate in controlled airspace when the when the proposed ADS-B mandate takes effect in December 2021.

“Under the proposed mandate, aircraft without ADS-B equipment won’t be able to fly in controlled airspace from that date, so it’s vitally important that owners equip early so they can continue flying,” Mr Hughes said.

“ADS-B brings significant safety benefits to New Zealand’s aviation system, so it’s great that this funding will be available to help smaller operators to get over the line with their installations ahead of the proposed ADS-B mandate.

“This grant programme is one of the most generous worldwide, and will help with the costs of installing ADS-B equipment for approximately 4,000 general aviation aircraft on a first-come, first served basis.”

To support the uptake of ADS-B IN, up to $500 plus GST will also be made available for those who install suitable equipment to give their aircraft ADS-B IN capability.

“Pilots will only unleash the full benefits of ADS-B in the cockpit if they are able to get additional traffic awareness through ADS-B IN alongside their usual visual scanning, so it’s important to consider adding ADS-B IN to your installation,” Mr Hughes said.

The ADS-B Transponder Grant scheme will be administered by the Civil Aviation Authority. Eligibility criteria and details about the application process are being developed and will be published on the Authority’s website and sent out to aircraft owners when they are finalised.

In the meantime, if you’re an aircraft owner, make sure you contact your avionics provider promptly to talk about what ADS-B equipment would be right for your aircraft.

Please contact us at adsb@caa.govt.nz if you have any questions about the scheme – although we won’t be able to address issues of eligibility until the eligibility criteria are released.

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