Irish Aircraft Leasing Companies

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A second source of reform impacting aviation structures is the OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting initiative ("BEPS"). One of the main ambitions of BEPS is to align profits with economic activity. It has led to investors taking steps to increase and centralise their economic activity, employment and resources in the jurisdictions they operate from. In the aviation finance sector, Ireland's established reputation as the global hub for aircraft leasing has meant that such increased resource and "substance" can be facilitated. BEPS is a global initiative that has been signed up to by over 130 countries, and Ireland's historic focus on management and control of entities in Ireland puts it at a distinct advantage when compared to other jurisdictions that have traditionally been involved in the financing of aircraft.

Irish Aircraft Leasing Companies

It is a common misconception among parties to commercial agreements that Irish law imputes a mutual duty of good faith or fair dealing between them, whether or not this is expressly stated. However, whilst under Irish law there are certain types of agreement to which a duty of good faith applies, including partnership agreements and insurance contracts, Irish courts have held that there is no general principle of good faith and fair dealing in Irish contract law.

On the borrower side, off-balance sheet financings result in the debts not being included in the borrower group's financial statements, which is viewed as beneficial where there is significant exposure under the financing, and limited recourse transactions have the additional benefit of preventing creditors from enforcing the borrower's obligation beyond accessing revenue streams related to the aircraft being financed, enforcing security following a default and in some other limited exceptions, such as fraud. Where debt is full recourse whether to the borrower itself or another entity of substance offering credit support, whilst the borrower loses the protection of no winding-up or enforcement claims (beyond those limited exceptions listed above), they would expect to benefit from preferential financial terms.

The benefit of using an SPV in a financing structure is that the transaction can be structured in a bankruptcy-remote manner by limiting the activities of the SPV to the holding of title to specific aircraft being financed and the leasing of those aircraft. The SPV will grant security over the aircraft and any key contracts, and the shares in the SPV itself will ordinarily be charged in favour of the creditors.

Under Irish law, there are no specific tax arrangements that allow for tax-structured leasing arrangements, such as JOLCOs in Japan or leverage leases in France; however, both operating and financing leases are routinely entered into by Irish companies. The fundamental difference between an operating lease and a finance lease is that with an operating lease, no title passes at the end of the lease term, whereas with a finance lease, there is provision for title to the aircraft to pass to the lessee at the end of the lease term. For Irish tax purposes, the distinction between the two types of lease turns on who actually bears the risk on the aircraft in the event of a loss of value or destruction.

The three-time Pulitzer Prize winner also noted the work of 19-year-old Irish-American college student Jack Sweeney, who previously rose to fame after he set up a Twitter bot account using publicly available air-traffic information to track Elon Musk's private jet and post regular updates of his location.

The Irish government is currently reviewing tax legislation in relation to the deductibility of financing costs above a certain threshold. Whilst this proposed legislative change is not specific to aviation, it will inevitably impact a number of aviation structures that are traditionally highly leveraged. This reform arises pursuant to the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive, which requires EU Member States to introduce rules that limit the deductibility of interest. It applies where interest expenses exceed interest income or interest-equivalent income. Where that is the case, a deduction can only be taken for interest up to 30% of EBITDA. In aircraft leasing structures, the current view is that payments received under a finance lease should be treated as interest-equivalent income, which would mean that an interest expense equivalent to the finance lease payments would continue to be available for deduction. The concern is that lease income, other than finance lease income, will not represent interest-equivalent income.

Ireland is a common law jurisdiction, like the United Kingdom, and thus is a familiar legal regime internationally and within the aviation industry as many transaction documents are governed by English or New York law. Irish leasing companies frequently enter into transactions governed under the laws of these jurisdictions’ and these are likely to be accepted and recognised within Ireland and by the Irish courts under the relevant regulations, for example enforcement of judgments between the EU member states is regulated by the Brussels I Regulation.

There is no stamp duty payable on instruments for the sale or transfer of aircraft or any interest therein; in addition no stamp duty is payable in respect of a lease of an aircraft or any moveable property. Security documentation which may be entered into in connection with a lease transaction is not subject to Irish stamp duty, regardless of the location of the aircraft.

Customs duties are not relevant with regard to an aircraft lessor unless the aircraft, spare parts or engines are physically brought into the Irish jurisdiction. In circumstances where this does occur, an exemption is generally available on the basis of an “end user authorisation”.

Ireland is a founding signatory of the Cape Town Convention and the headquarters of the International Registry of Mobile Assets (the “International Registry”) is based in Dublin,Ireland. The Cape Town Convention is regarded as a significant development in international asset- based finance and is designed to overcome the problem of obtaining secure and readily enforceable rights in aircraft and other movable equipment. The International Registry provides a priority system of registration to users registering a variety of interests. A user can obtain priority search certificates for any aircraft object and check which states are contracting states for the purpose of the Cape Town Convention. These certificates are now commonplace and are sought in connection with most aircraft transactions.

Since the birth of Guinness Peat Aviation (“GPA”) out of Shannon in 1975, Irish leasing expertise has developed enormously and Ireland now boasts a portfolio of the world’s biggest aircraft financiers, lessors and operators. The industry has grown to the extent that 9 of the world’s 10 largest aircraft leasing companies are located in Ireland, with over 30 similar companies in operation throughout the country; Dublin in particular is widely recognised as a world leader in the aviation finance industry, industry leaders located here include GECAS, SMBC, Aer Cap, ILFC, AWAS, Avolon, ICBC, CIT, Orix and Lease Corporation International.

There are a number of options for financing both new and used aircraft in Ireland (many of which use SPVs) with the financing being structured as either on- or off-balance sheet and limited or full recourse. Both on- and off-balance sheet transactions can be full and limited recourse, although an off-balance sheet financing will be far more likely to be limited recourse to the aircraft and the related income and any security package. An on-balance sheet deal is a transaction where title to the aircraft being financed is held by an entity in a group structure and the income and liabilities associated with the aircraft are included in that group's financial statements, whereas off-balance sheet financings sit outside a standard group structure with the aircraft held in a ring-fenced structure, which is created via a trust arrangement.

2.3 Is the provision of a current tax-residency certificate by a payee sufficient for a lessee or a borrower potentially subject to withholding taxes in your jurisdiction on rental or interest payments to avail itself of treaty access and the mitigation of tax liability?

Irish withholding tax at a rate of 20% is required to be withheld from payments of Irish source "yearly" interest to nonresidents. However, there are a large number of exemptions available, including for interest paid to a company that is resident in an EU Member State or a country with which Ireland has signed a double-tax treaty.

The final form and impact of the new interest limitation rules will not be determined until such time as draft legislation has been made available. As regards the current expected timing of introduction of the interest limitation rules in Ireland, the Irish Department of Finance has recently indicated that it intends for the relevant legislation to be introduced in Finance Bill 2021, with the implementing provisions taking effect from 1 January 2022.

Aeroflot, Russia's state airline, has already announced that it will be suspending all international flights due to "additional circumstances that prevent the performance of flights" and Friedman believes that domestic flights are almost certain to be suspended in the near future.

However, the necessity to provide a tax-residency certificate to Irish Revenue rarely arises in practice. Ireland does not typically impose withholding tax on lease payments. Secondly, as outlined above, Ireland offers a range of domestic exemptions with respect to outgoing interest payments by Irish borrowers. These do not require the provision of tax-residency certificates.

For lenders, if the transaction is structured as on-balance sheet, where security is properly granted, Irish insolvency would recognise the preferential interests of secured creditors over other third-party creditors of the group, but exercising the security may take longer in an insolvency situation due to the need to engage in the examinership or winding-up process. However, on the positive side, the enhanced credit would usually allow creditors to be made whole by another member of the group.

New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Thomas L. Friedman noted that EU sanctions require these leasing companies to repossess any aircraft leased to Russia by the end of March, potentially grinding Russian aviation to a halt.

Under Irish law, to have a binding contract there are three essential requirements: agreement between the parties; consideration; and intention to create legal relations. As such, if parties wish to set out heads of terms or similar in a non-binding letter of intent or term sheet, it is absolutely key to state in clean and unambiguous language that the parties are not concluding a contract or creating a legal relation by virtue of the document. Often this is achieved by stating that the terms of the document are conditional upon certain further actions being taken, whether board approvals, aircraft inspections, payments or similar. If the document is unclear and the terms are sufficiently clear, the Irish court may hold the document to be binding, especially where executed by the parties thereto.

Financing structures involving Irish entities often employ the use of a special-purpose vehicle ("SPV"), which is a company established specifically to hold title to the aircraft subject to the financing and to lease those aircraft to the operators. Ireland is a popular jurisdiction for the establishment of SPVs due to the numerous double-tax treaties in place between Ireland and other countries, many of which specifically refer to aviation in their text. Ireland is also attractive due to the confidence in the legal and court system (which is broadly based on English common law) and the number of aviation experts and leasing companies based in Ireland.

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Island Aircraft

Island Aircraft - Standing out of Hampton Roads, Va., on 5 January 1953, Block Island carried out training in the West Indies before entering the New York Naval Shipyard on 25 February for a month of repairs. She then returned to the Virginia capes to resume flight operations until mid-April.

Departing Norfolk on 17 April for the United Kingdom, Block Island made port visits in Great Britain and Ireland before proceeding to Golfe Juan, France. The escort carrier then operated briefly in the Mediterranean visiting Naples before returning to Norfolk late in June.

Island Aircraft

That fall, she conducted a second West Indian cruise, this time with a detachment of Sikorsky HO4S-3 helicopters from Helicopter Squadron (HS) 3 embarked, her last voyage before being placed in reserve at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 15 January 1954. Block

Domestic And Greenland Operations

Island was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 27 August 1954. A sound, a long, broad arm of an ocean, that lies east of Long Island, N.Y., and south of Rhode Island. It takes its name from Block Island, which separates it from the Rhode Island coast.

The Cessna 206 Amphib can transport three (3) passengers & gear, or 600 lbs of freight, at 125 MPH to locations throughout Alaska. As with all of our IFR aircraft, the 206 also has the Chelton "Synthetic Flight Vision" system onboard providing exceptional safety, situational awareness, and traffic alerts during flight.

This aircraft is a perfect option when your air travel needs require something a bit smaller and shorter range than a PC-12 or Caravan. On 17 April, Block Island sailed for Ulithi in the Carolines, screened by Harry E. Hubbard (DD-748), proceeding via Eniwetok in the Marshalls.

As the two ships approached Ulithi on 28 April, the escort carrier had her closest brush with an enemy aircraft. Eighteen miles from her destination, she began receiving radio reports from Ulithi announcing a condition red alert and an incoming "bogey."

Block Island went to general quarters and her Combat Information Center (CIC) watched by radar as shore-based interceptors splashed the Nakajima B6N1 carrier attack plane (Jill). One friendly aircraft, buzzing the ship to attract attention to the remains of the enemy plane nearby, found himself under fire from Block Island's forecastle 40-millimeter quadruple mounts until he established his identity!

Her starboard guns then took two others under fire until their friendly character became apparent as well. Continued unsatisfactory weather over the target prompted the cancellation of the afternoon operations. Instead, Block Island launched six Avengers, three Corsairs, and a Hellcat to make rocket and bombing runs on a towed spar.

At 1640, the escort carrier launched nine more planes to carry out similar evolutions but recalled all planes at 1734 in the face of the frighteningly rapid approach of a severe storm. Within six minutes, the turbulent weather engulfed the area and prevented the planes from entering the landing circle.

One Avenger managed to break through the overcast and land on board at 1808, but repeated attempts to bring in the rest failed. Block Island then directed the planes to San Nicolas Island which, although 120 miles away, reported a 1,500-foot ceiling.

After round-trip voyages to New York and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Block Island served as a recruit training ship off Camp Peary, Va. for two months. On 28 May 1946, she was placed in service, in reserve, at Portsmouth, Va., with Comdr.

Frank Slater as officer-in-charge. Shifting to Norfolk a few days later, she then proceeded to Annapolis, Md. on 7 June to serve as a training ship for Naval Academy midshipmen, berthed in the Severn River across from ex-Spanish cruiser Reina Mercedes.

We have a flexible Boeing fleet that marries commonality with varying sizes and capabilities. The mix of aircraft is perfectly suited to serve Icelandair's international route network, which is designed around the unique geographical location of Iceland as a connecting hub between Europe and North America.

Her part in the mercy mission completed, Block Island stood out of Manila Bay on September 17 and reached Okinawa on the 20th. Subsequently, the escort carrier participated in a show of force at Formosa on 16 and 17 October, covering the landing of the Chinese Nationalist 70th Army.

Putting into Saipan in the Marianas on 23 October, Block Island soon sailed for the United States, picked up planes and passengers at Guam, and reached Pearl Harbor on 2 December. Returning to sea on the 5th, she arrived at San Diego on the 11th.

Pushing on for the east coast on 5 January 1946, Block Island transited the Panama Canal on 15 January, and stood into Norfolk, Va., on 20 January. Our Cessna 850 Caravan Amphibian can transport nine (9) passengers & gear or 2000 lbs of freight at 165 MPH to locations throughout Alaska from land or water, day or night.

We are FAA certified to fly the Caravan IFR (in and above clouds) which provides passengers with safe, reliable flights to and from destinations that are normally inaccessible during times of adverse weather conditions. If you're looking for one of the most versatile aircraft available in Alaska, this is it.

The Pilatus PC-12 can transport nine (9) passengers & gear or 2665 lbs of freight at 345 MPH to locations throughout Alaska, Canada, and the lower 48 States. With a pressurized cabin and a service ceiling of 30,000 feet, this aircraft can truly get above the weather and go long distances fast.

Known throughout the world as one of the most capable aircraft in its class, the PC-12 provides passengers with safe, reliable long-range flights to and from destinations that are not reachable by most Alaska-based aircraft. Departing Tacoma on 10 January 1945 after outfitting, Block Island ran brief exercises in Puget Sound and then loaded ammunition and supplies at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., and in Seattle.

Negotiating the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the 20th, she headed down the west coast to reach San Francisco, Calif., on the 22nd. Taking on board some damaged aircraft and five 13-ton picket boats for transportation, Block Island sailed for San Diego, Calif., on the 24th.

On 26 January, the new escort carrier reached her destination, unloaded the cargo brought from San Francisco and began taking on board 5-inch aerial rockets at North Island to arm her air group. It almost defies belief, but it's true: our Cessna aircraft now have flight decks more advanced than the latest state-of-the-art airliners.

The FAA-certified Chelton FlightLogic Synthetic Vision EFIS employs breakthrough technology to deliver never-before-possible situational awareness and ground-breaking automated flight management capabilities. The Chelton FlightLogic EFIS combines advanced “Heads Up Display” symbology with real-time forward-looking 3-D terrain to create a primary flight display with capabilities unmatched by any other product in the world.

The result is tremendously enhanced awareness, unprecedented safety, and dramatically reduced pilot workload. Additionally, Chelton FlightLogic EFIS will overlay real time traffic & weather on both screens, and is able to receive text forecasts, pilot reports and current weather conditions for any aviation reporting location.

The entire operation took only 36 hours. Thirty-two marines rescued more than 1,200 POWs who were then distributed among the six ships of the task group, with Block Island getting 474. Early on 6 September, Block Island stood out with the task group, and rendezvoused with a British task force which

took over the air patrols and moved into the harbor to watch over the POWs deemed too ill to be moved. By 2337, all of the POWs in TG 77.1 had been distributed, and the group sailed for the Philippines, arriving in Manila on 8 September.

Detaching the destroyer, Block Island anchored at Ulithi on 28 April, and Capt. Hughes reported his ship ready for duty with the Fifth Fleet. Two days later, the warship was under way again, bound for Okinawa.

Shepherded by escort ship Samuel S. Miles (DE-183) and joined by Helm (DD-388) en route, Block Island rendezvoused with Rear Adm. Calvin T. Durgin's Task Unit (TU) 52.1.1 on 3 May as it steamed 64 miles southeast of the tip of Okinawa.

Detached the next day to join TU 52.1.3 under Rear Adm. William D. Sample, she joined Suwannee (CVE-27), Santee (CVE-29) and Chenango (CVE-28), replacing the kamikaze-damaged Sangamon (CVE-26). For the week that followed, Block Island underwent a shakedown of sorts, getting broken in on operations in the Pacific by providing Combat Air Patrol (CAP).

On the evening of 4 September, Ketcham drafted a proclamation to the Japanese commander on Formosa, informing him of his impending arrival and ordering him to make arrangements to evacuate POWs and internees. A flight of Corsairs swept over Kiirun Harbor and nearby Matsuyama airfield at dawn on September 5, delivered six copies of the proclamation by parachute and made a photographic reconnaissance of the area.

In March 2021, Icelandair and Air Iceland Connect united as Icelandair. This change is a part of strengthening our domestic route network and our operations to Greenland. As part of this integration, we added 5 De Havilland Canada aircraft to the Icelandair fleet.

Reliable, efficient aircraft. When loaded with nine (9) passengers Caravans produce a per passenger flight mile cost of only $0.90 per mile, one of the lowest flight mile costs in the industry. Additionally, our Caravans operate safely in IFR and night conditions by participating in the FAA's "Capstone" program which uses a navigation system known as Synthetic Flight Vision Technology.

This modern technology replaces conventional "steam gauge" instruments, which has been the industry standard since instrument flying was first introduced in the early 1930s. Using this advanced technology developed by Chelton Flight Systems, we are able to take advantage of special Capstone low level routes with lower instrument approach minimums that are unavailable to non-Capstone participating operators.

Island Air Express is one of only three commercial operations in Alaska authorized to use the Capstone Southeast IFR system. Block Island departed North Island on 10 February, accompanied by destroyer Douglas H. Fox (DD-779), for what was scheduled to be ten days operational training in the San Diego operating area.

The carrier conducted routine flight operations off San Clemente and San Nicolas for three days until the 14th. On that day, her planes were to carry out live-ammunition strikes on the bombing area on the southern tip of San Clemente Island, both in the morning and afternoon.

The morning flight found the weather unsatisfactory upon arrival at the island, and the planes returned to the ship, expending their ordnance at a towed spar target. At 1219, one of the returning planes' engine cut out and crashed, although the pilot extricated himself and was picked up by destroyer seaplane tender Childs (AVD-1).

The expansion of the Navy during the Korean War, though, gave Block Island a new lease on life. Transferred to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet on 3 October 1950, she was taken in tow to Norfolk for drydocking, at the end of which she was towed from Norfolk to Philadelphia, Pa., arriving on 25 October.

There, Block Island was recommissioned on 28 April 1951, Capt. Arthur S. Hill in command. After fitting out, she put to sea on 5 January 1952, for Guantánamo Bay, where she carried out flight operations and other training until mid-March.

After operations out of Norfolk in the Virginia capes operating area, Block Island made another round-trip voyage to the West Indies and back in late April, returning to Norfolk on the 27th. Local operations out of Norfolk occupied her for the rest of 1952.

At daybreak on 11 May, the marines resumed their campaign against outlying airfields. First, a flight of fighters worked over the fields at Ishigaki Island, further west in Sakashima Gunto. A mixed strike made up of both fighters and bombers followed.

Then, another fighter sweep capped the effort. As before, a photo plane carried out the difficult post-strike reconnaissance. Three planes took hits from antiaircraft fire, while a fourth had to land at Yontan on Okinawa because of a bomb loose in its bomb bay and a shot-up hydraulic system.

Block Island's planes provided CAP on 11 and 12 May while planes from British carriers took their turn working over Sakashima Gunto. Following this tragedy, she turned to in order to restore morale and carried out intensive training until mid-March as her ship's company and air group prepared themselves to join the Pacific war.

Departing San Diego on 20 March, Block Island carried 30 aircraft as Hawaii-bound cargo in addition to the 36 in her own air group, and 192 naval officers and enlisted men traveled as passengers. Block Island reached Pearl Harbor, T.H., on 26 March and, after discharging her passengers and cargo, spent the ensuing weeks engaged in underway training in Hawaiian waters.

Although she never returned to active service, the warship experienced a series of promising, but, in the end, purely administrative, status changes during the nearly five years that she remained in reserve. Slated for conversion to an amphibious assault ship, she was reclassified LPH-1 on 22 December 1957 but reverted back to CVE-106 upon cancellation of those plans in June of 1958. Though Block Island was again reclassified, becoming a cargo ship and aircraft ferry

(AKP-38) on 7 May 1959, she carried that designation for less than two months. Her name was stricken from the Navy List on 1 July 1959, and she was sold to Kowa Koeki Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Naka, of Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo.

She was scrapped in Japan during the summer of 1960. The second Block Island (CVE-106), an escort aircraft carrier built as such from the keel up and incorporating some of the best features of the tanker conversions of the Sangamon class and the specially designed Casablanca class, was laid down as Sunset Bay on

25 October 1943 at Tacoma, Wash., by the Todd-Pacific Shipyards; launched on 10 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. E.J. Hallenbeck; renamed Block Island on 5 July 1944; and commissioned on 30 December 1944, Capt. Francis M. Hughes in command.

With Balikpapan secured, Block Island and her marines returned to Leyte Gulf but remained there only briefly, continuing on to Guam almost immediately. There, she began repairs to her arresting gear while hostilities in the Pacific played out to their conclusion.

Still in Apra Harbor when the atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Block Island was on her way from Guam to Leyte in company with Santee and four destroyers when word of the impending Japanese surrender reached her on 14 August.

The formal dispatches announcing Japan's surrender and the ceasefire order arrived at 1630 the following day. Enables our pilots to always "see" the terrain and obstacles ahead of and around our aircraft for remarkable situational awareness and optimum command, control and safety Eliminates the uncertainty of darkness and weather to make every flight as effortless as flying in ideal weather.

Creates a virtual 3-D "tunnel" for all en route and instrument procedures—we simply fly our aircraft through the boxes, which makes executing flight plans and instrument approaches almost effortless. Easy push-button flight planning to any destination.

Isle Of Man Registered Aircraft

Isle Of Man Registered Aircraft - The Isle of Man's innovative plan was to create an offshore register that operated globally with the highest safety standards, but with a friendly business-like service. Back then, the only offshore alternatives were Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Aruba.

The US register was, and still is, a popular alternative, and with a US ownership trust it was an efficient 'offshore' register for non-US residents. An Export Certificate of Airworthiness is not required in order to register an aircraft, subject to the aircraft holding a current Certificate of Airworthiness at the date of application for registration.

Isle Of Man Registered Aircraft

In the absence of either certificate, please contact the Registry to discuss an acceptable alternative means of compliance. Please contact the Registry as early as possible if you are considering registering an aircraft. This will enable our team to guide you through the process and make the experience as efficient as possible.

Innovative Thinking

Registry Publication 1 provides a detailed checklist and includes links to application forms. We accept all submissions in electronic format. Just as IOMAR achieved, any small jurisdiction entering this market has to find its niche. Guernsey is a prime example.

With its contacts through SGI, it started registering transient aircraft in the IOMAR model, but more successfully, registering hundreds of 'parked' commercial airliners. The Manx government's initial expectation was that IOMAR would register 12 aircraft in the first year - but by the end of that year, 51 had been registered.

Since 2007, well over 1,000 business aircraft have been registered and IOMAR is now the 6th largest private/corporate business aviation register in the world. Any survey required for the issue of an Export Certificate of Airworthiness, while the aircraft is on its current registry, must have been completed before the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry surveyor commences the initial Certificate of Airworthiness survey.

San Marino, which has the 'T7' tail designation, has been more fortunate, launching its registry in 2012 in partnership with Miami-based Aviation Registry Group, which also administers the Aruba offshore registry. As of December 2019, it has registered 238 aircraft.

Leaders And Followers

That said, the last 12 years have seen significant changes in the sector. Each registry has its own unique offering, yet all meet high regulatory standards and offer a fast, efficient service. As a result, I look forward to seeing what new developments the offshore registries will offer over the next 12 years.

I've been in aviation for more years than I perhaps would care to admit - but it's an industry I love and one that has undergone massive change in recent decades. One of the most significant developments, from my own perspective, has been the rise in offshore business jet registration - and a major turning point for the sector was the launch of the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry (IOMAR) in 2007.

You can have the next four letters from the Register or, for a small extra fee (£150), you can select a 'cherished' registration and this will be reserved for you for a period of 1 year.

At the time, the majority of business aircraft were registered in the Government registry of the country where the aircraft was based. These national registries had little competition and a captive market of thousands of aircraft.

The Government registers' main focus was on their national airlines and other commercial air transport operators. General Aviation aircraft, including business jets, were usually a very low priority. Back in 2007, I was the Isle of Man Director of Civil Aviation – indeed, I was the first person to hold the role.

That year, the Isle of Man Government made a bold proposal to establish a new aircraft register for private and corporate aircraft, something that had not happened anywhere for decades. IOMAR has become well-respected on the global stage during its 12 years of operation, yet the way it revolutionized the offshore aviation sector is often overlooked.

In my opinion, however, its achievements cannot be overstated. Considering the current global economic and political landscape, it's hard to predict quite how offshore aircraft registration will move forward in the years ahead. Brexit alone may have a large impact on how aircraft are imported to address the VAT issue.

Aircraft should not be de-registered from their previous state of registry until we have confirmed that the aircraft can be accepted for registration. A member of the Registry Services Team will then be allocated to be your main point of contact throughout the entire registration process.

Currently, I'm aware of other jurisdictions considering launching their own registers internationally. But establishing a national register isn't inexpensive, and it seems that employing a company that has the knowledge and reputation to assist with this is the most viable operational model.

The new registry - with its Nationality 'M' tail prefix - operated in a business-like, not civil service style, and was exactly what private business jet owners needed to support their aircraft. It's also worth noting that the timing of the IOMAR launch was very fortunate because, prior to the financial crisis, the business jet sector was booming.

The offshore aircraft registration process at the time was seen as bureaucratic and slow, due to the distance between jurisdictions and their customers. Original documents, even flight crew licenses (FCLs), had to be sent by courier in order to receive an FCL Validation or, in some instances, a requirement to submit notarized copies of documents from a law firm.

Jersey has not been so fortunate and the Jersey Aircraft Registry (JAR), which launched in 2015, failed to gain traction, registering only two aircraft in the first year. Effectively in a holding pattern since then, the States of Jersey announced in November 2019 that a third-party company was due to take over JAR's day-to-day running and that contracts were likely to be signed within weeks.

National registers were largely government departments, so generally operated from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. But business jets travel at all hours, all year round. So IOMAR's first major move was to make itself totally accessible, 24/7.

This may seem insignificant nowadays, but it was that initial level of customer service that underpinned its future success. The Isle of Man's aircraft registration prefix nationality mark is 'M' followed by a hyphen and four characters.

This has already produced some interesting registrations such as M-AGIC, M-YJET, M-IDAS and M-ONEY. Aircraft owners may also transfer their personal registration to their next aircraft. Guernsey moved quickly by outsourcing the work to SGI Aviation - a Dutch company who are well known in the industry - launching the 2-REG registry in December 2013, with its '2' tail prefix.

Since then it has gone on to build a reputation around the world and in May 2019 registered its 500th aircraft. It would be natural to assume that the launch, and success, of IOMAR would be followed by a deluge of other offshore jurisdictions wanting their share of the aviation action.

But that hasn't been the case. Indeed, while the Isle of Man was very successful really quickly, it took the Channel Islands, for instance, six years to make a move. Unable to agree on a joint register, they decided to do so individually.

When we started thinking about a register in the Isle of Man, we were fortunate enough to have a blank piece of paper. Whereas other registers had legacy issues, we were able to come at it with an 'ideal scenario' approach.

As such we were able to bring a whole range of new ideas to the registration of business jets. Just a few of these included: We also had to make the most of technology. Initially IOMAR issued every aircraft with a document folder containing all the aircraft certificates, allowing for quick clearance of checks and inspections, and for efficient turnaround times for aircraft operators.

Progressing on from this, IOMAR no longer issues paper certificates, all the aircraft registration documents are now issued digitally on either personal electronic devices or held on the aircraft's own electronic system. Changes to certificates can be transmitted by email to wherever in the world the aircraft is in minutes.

The ongoing success of IOMAR is also built on its ability to move with the times. After a couple of years, I saw that there were a lot of 'parked' commercial airliners or transient aircraft - where an aircraft had come off a national register because it was no longer being leased.

What I discovered was that there was a market there for the IOMAR to register the aircraft when it came off the lease – irrespective of where in the world it was parked – then when the leasing company got an airline that wanted it, it could deregister to

the new country. Likewise, while IOMAR is solely a private register, 2-REG is able to do Air Operator Approvals for commercial operators. So, when clients who have a business jet wish to charter it out to third-party members of the public, they are able to do so.

Guernsey was the first new offshore register to offer that and cornered the market in doing so. The Isle of Man has become increasingly confident in the Aviation sector, since the establishment of the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry in March 2007. It was designed to attract owners of private, non-commercial aircraft in Europe, as a registry in a European time

zone was required to look after the steadily increasing number of European-owned aircraft.

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