Charging powers sit in Division 3 of Part 5. Section 53 lets the Board determine charges for services or facilities and penalties for late payment. The charge must be reasonably related to expenses incurred or to be incurred by AA in relation to the matters to which the charge relates and must not be such as to amount to taxation. Section 54 makes the Minister a gatekeeper: the Board must give 30 days' notice and the Minister can approve or disapprove. Section 55 layers in Part VIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including notices under sections 95L(3), 95P, 95ZJ, with the consequence that the section 54(2) clock is paused until the Minister receives the relevant notice or report and the Minister can substitute a fresh determination under section 55(5)-(6).
Late payment penalty under section 56 is capped at 1.5 per cent per month of the unpaid amount, calculated from the due date and compounded. Recovery is in a court of competent jurisdiction under section 57, with remission for exceptional circumstances under section 58.
Division 4 of Part 5 contains the statutory lien regime. Under section 59, where a service charge in respect of an aircraft is unpaid by the due date and any part of the charge or late payment penalty remains unpaid, an authorised employee may direct the Registrar to make an entry in the Register; on entry, a statutory lien on the aircraft vests in AA covering the charge, future penalties on the charge, and any further outstanding amounts in respect of the aircraft. Section 60 sets the lien's effect: it operates in spite of any encumbrance and any sale, disposition or dealing in the aircraft, and whether or not AA has possession. For priorities, the lien ranks after security interests created before its registration to the extent they cover pre-registration debts (excluding circulating-asset security interests within the Personal Property Securities Act 2009), and before all other security interests. Section 60(3A) imports section 73(2) of the PPSA so that priority between the lien and a security interest under the PPSA is determined by the Air Services Act, not the PPSA. The Cape Town Convention (the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment, given force of law by the International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Act 2013) recognises the lien as a non-consensual right or interest.
Section 61 lets prescribed persons obtain a certificate from an authorised employee about whether a lien applies and what amounts are outstanding; the lien does not cover charges or penalties payable but unspecified at the certificate time. Section 62 lists the only ways a lien ceases (full payment, sale under section 67, or written direction by an authorised employee). Section 63 requires Gazette notice and reasonable steps to serve the prescribed persons. Section 64 establishes the Register of Statutory Liens, open to public inspection.
Subdivision B of Division 4 of Part 5 covers seizure and sale. Section 65 lets an authorised employee seize the aircraft if the outstanding amount remains unpaid for nine months after it became outstanding or after registration of the lien (whichever is later), with notice to security holders, owners, operators, lessees, hirers, charterers and pilots in command. Section 66 requires AA to insure the seized aircraft, recoverable from the person liable. Section 67 lets AA sell the aircraft after the same nine-month threshold and execute documents giving title free of encumbrances, leases and contracts of hire. Section 68 sends the proceeds to the regulations. Section 69 applies any payments in the order in which the outstanding amounts became payable.