4.1   Article 1

1. A charge shall be levied for each flight performed in accordance with the procedures laid down in application of the Standards and Recommended Practices of the International Civil Aviation Organization in the airspace falling under the responsibility of the Contracting States. For route charge purposes, this airspace shall be divided into en route charging zones, as defined by the Contracting States and listed in Annex 1.
2. State may decide that a charge be levied on any flight performed under Visual Flight Rules (VFR flight). Flights performed partly under Visual Flight Rules and partly under Instrument Flight Rules (mixed VFR/IFR flights) in the Flight Information Regions falling within the competence of a given Contracting State are subject, for the entire distance flown within the said Flight Information Regions, to charges levied in that State for IFR flights.
3. The charges generated in a given charging zone may be subject to value added tax (VAT). EURCONTROL may, in that case, recover the said tax under the conditions and in accordance with the procedures agreed with the Contracting State(s) concerned.
4. The charges generated in a given charging zone may be subject to incentive scheme(s). EURCONTROL may implement the incentive scheme(s) under the conditions and in accordance with the procedures agreed with the Contracting State(s) concerned.
5. The person liable to pay the charge shall be the person who was the operator of the aircraft at the time when the flight was performed. If the identity of the operator is not known, the owner of the aircraft shall be regarded as the operator unless he proves which other person was the operator.

4.3   Article 3

The charge for a flight in the airspace of the Flight Information Regions falling within the competence of a given Contracting State (i) shall be calculated in accordance with the following formula:

ri = ti x Ni

where ri is the charge, ti the unit rate of charge and Ni the number of service units corresponding to such a flight. The unit rates may, where appropriate, be set separately for VFR and IFR flights.

4.4   Article 4

For a given flight, the number of service units, designated Ni, referred to in the foregoing Article shall be obtained by means of the following formula:

Ni = di x p

where di is the distance factor in respect of the airspace of the Flight Information Regions falling within the competence of the Contracting State (i) and p the weight factor for the aircraft concerned.

4.5   Article 5

1. The distance factor (di) shall be obtained by dividing by one hundred (100) the number of kilometres in the great circle distance between:
   • the aerodrome of departure within, or the point of entry into, the charging zone (i)
   • the aerodrome of first destination within, or the point of exit from, that charging zone (i).

   The aforesaid entry and exit points shall be the points at which the lateral limits of the said charging zone are crossed by the route described in the flight plan. This flight plan incorporates any changes made by the operator to the flight plan initially filed as well as any changes approved by the operator resulting from air traffic flow management measures.

2. For flights terminating at the aerodrome from which the aircraft has taken off and during which no intermediate landing has been made (circular flights), article 5.1 is applicable, except in the following two cases:

   1. For a circular flight performed exclusively in a single charging zone the distance factor shall be obtained by dividing by one hundred (100) the number of kilometres in the great circle distance between the aerodrome and the most distant point from the aerodrome, multiplied by two (2)
   2. For a circular flight performed in more than one charging zone Article 5.1. is applicable, except in that charging zone containing the most distant point from the aerodrome, where the distance factor shall be obtained by dividing by one hundred (100) the number of kilometres in the total great circle distance between the point of entry into that charging zone and the most distant point from the aerodrome, and from this most distant point to the point of exit from that charging zone.
3. The distance to be taken into account shall be reduced by twenty (20) kilometres for each take-off from and for each landing on the territory of a Contracting State.

4.6   Article 6

1. The weight factor shall be the square root of the quotient obtained by dividing by fifty (50) the number of metric tons in the maximum certificated take-off weight of the aircraft as shown in the certificate of airworthiness, the flight manual or any other equivalent official document, as follows:

   P=√(Maximum Take-off Weight: 50)

   Where the maximum certificated take-off weight of the aircraft is not known to the bodies responsible for the collection of the charge, the weight factor shall be calculated by taking the weight of the heaviest aircraft of the same type known to exist.

2. Where an aircraft has multiple certificated maximum take-off weights, the weigh factor shall be established on the basis of the highest maximum take-off weight authorised for the aircraft by its State of registration.
3. Where, however, an operator has indicated to EURCONTROL - by the last working day of the calendar month in which his aircraft fleet changed and at least annually - that he operates two or more aircraft which are different versions of the same type, the average of the maximum take-off weights of all his aircraft of that type shall be taken for the calculation of the weight factor for each aircraft of that type. The calculation of this factor per aircraft type and per operator shall be effected at least once a year.
4. For the purpose of calculating the charge, the weight factor shall be expressed as a figure taken to two decimal places.

4.7   Article 7

1. The unit rate of charge shall be established in EUR.
2. Unless decided differently by the State concerned, the unit rate of charge for a Contracting State for which the EUR is not the national currency shall be recalculated monthly by applying the average monthly rate of exchange between the EUR and the national currency for the month preceding the month during which the flight takes place. The exchange rates applied shall be the monthly average of the “Closing Cross Rates” calculated by Reuters based on daily BID rate.

4.8   Article 8

1. The following flights shall be exempted from the payment of charges:
   1. flights performed by aircraft of which the Maximum Take-Off Weight Authorised is less than two (2) metric tons;
   2. flights performed exclusively for the transport, on official mission, of the reigning Monarch and his/her immediate family, Heads of State, Heads of Government and Government Ministers. In all cases, this must be substantiated by the appropriate status indicator on the flight plan;
   3. search and rescue flights authorised by a competent SAR body.
2. Furthermore, a Contracting State may, in respect of the Flight Information Regions falling within its competence, exempt the following from payment of the charge:
   1. military flights of any State;
   2. training flights performed exclusively for the purpose of obtaining a licence, or a rating in the case of cockpit flight crew, and where this is substantiated by an appropriate remark on the flight plan. Flights must be performed solely within the airspace of the State concerned; flights must not serve for the transport of passengers and/or cargo, nor for positioning or ferrying of the aircraft;
   3. flights performed exclusively for the purpose of checking or testing equipment used or intended to be used as ground aids to air navigation, excluding positioning flights by the aircraft concerned.
   4. flights terminating at the aerodrome from which the aircraft has taken off and during which no intermediate landing has been made (circular flights).
   5. flights performed exclusively under VFR within this charging zone
   6. humanitarian flights authorized by the appropriate competent body;
   7. customs and police flights

4.9   Article 9

The charge shall be payable at EURCONTROL's Headquarters, in accordance with the conditions of payment set out in Annex 2. The currency of account used shall be the EUR.