1. The administering Member State in respect of an aircraft operator shall be:

(a) in the case of an aircraft operator with a valid operating licence granted by a Member State in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92 of 23 July 1992 on licensing of air carriers [OJ L 240, 24.8.1992, p. 1.], the Member State which granted the operating licence in respect of that aircraft operator; and

(b) in all other cases, the Member State with the greatest estimated attributed aviation emissions from flights performed by that aircraft operator in the base year.

2. Where in the first two years of any period referred to in Article 13, none of the attributed aviation emissions from flights performed by an aircraft operator falling within point (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article are attributed to its administering Member State, the aircraft operator shall be transferred to another administering Member State in respect of the next period. The new administering Member State shall be the Member State with the greatest estimated attributed aviation emissions from flights performed by that aircraft operator during the first two years of the previous period.