The Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Sourton Down, Devon) (Emergency) (Revocation) Regulations 2026
This Statutory Instrument, made by the Secretary of State for Transport, immediately revokes the previous emergency regulations that restricted flying in the specified area of Sourton Down, Devon, because the necessity for those restrictions is deemed to have passed in the public interest.
Arguments For
The revocation aligns regulatory measures with current safety and public interest needs, confirming the initial emergency has concluded.
Implementing the revocation immediately ensures that necessary airspace access for civilian and commercial aviation over Sourton Down is restored without delay.
Arguments Against
Regulators must ensure that the original factors necessitating the emergency restriction are definitively no longer present to prevent premature removal of safety measures.
Stakeholders accustomed to the restrictions may require clear and immediate communication regarding the change in operational airspace control.
2026 No. 633
CIVIL AVIATION
The Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Sourton Down, Devon) (Emergency) (Revocation) Regulations 2026
Made ----at 10.20 a.m. on 15th June 2026
Coming into force with immediate effect
This identifies the item as a Statutory Instrument from 2026, numbered 633, falling under the category of Civil Aviation.
It names the regulations as the instrument that revokes previous emergency flying restrictions over Sourton Down, Devon.
The instrument was officially made at 10:20 a.m. on June 15, 2026, and became legally active immediately upon that time.
The Secretary of State has decided that it is no longer considered necessary in the public interest to restrict flying in the area specified in the Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Sourton Down, Devon) (Emergency) Regulations 2026( a ).
The responsible government official, the Secretary of State, has formally concluded that the specific restrictions on flights previously set for the Sourton Down area are no longer required for the public good.
This decision explicitly ends the need for the emergency flying limitations established under the cited 2026 regulations.
The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by article 239 of the Air Navigation Order 2016( b ).
The Secretary of State is issuing these revocation regulations by using the legal authority granted under Article 239 of the main Air Navigation Order established in 2016.
Citation and commencement
- These Regulations may be cited as the Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Sourton Down, Devon) (Emergency) (Revocation) Regulations 2026 and they come into force with immediate effect.
The first operative section provides the official title for citing these new rules and confirms that they become legally binding the moment they are enacted, which aligns with the timing noted earlier.
Revocation of Regulations
- The Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Sourton Down, Devon) (Emergency) Regulations 2026 are revoked.
This core provision legally cancels the original set of regulations that established the emergency flying restrictions over Sourton Down in Devon.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport
At 10.20 a.m. on 15th June 2026
This details the authorization for the instrument, confirming it was signed on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport at 10:20 a.m. on the specified date.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations revoke the statutory instrument which imposed emergency restrictions on flying in the area specified in the Schedule to that instrument, the emergency in question having passed.
This note clarifies that the regulations' sole purpose is to cancel the previous statutory instrument that imposed urgent, temporary flight restrictions in a designated area.
The reason for the cancellation is that the specific emergency situation that prompted those initial orders is now over.
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