Aircraft Registration Lawyers

Where an aircraft is registered affects who may own it, how it can be operated, how it is financed and how easily it can be sold. Jaffa & Co’s aircraft registration lawyers advise owners, operators and lenders on choosing a register and on moving aircraft between registers, working with trusted partners in every major aviation jurisdiction.

Choosing a register

The structure must reflect your personal circumstances and how you intend to use the aircraft: where it will fly, whether it will operate privately or commercially, and your domicile. Business jets are commonly registered in the United States, the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Malta, San Marino, Aruba, Ireland and several other jurisdictions, each with its own eligibility rules and advantages. We devise a tax-efficient ownership structure, with tax advisers where appropriate, and then implement it, incorporating the owning companies and liaising with the registration authorities.

Title and international interests

Before an aircraft is registered, its history must be checked. We search the International Registry under the Cape Town Convention and any relevant national registers for the aircraft and its engines, so that no undisclosed interests follow it to its new owner, and make sure it is delivered with the documents needed for onward registration.

Moving between registers

Changing register usually means deregistration from the current register, an Export Certificate of Airworthiness where the new register’s standards differ, discharge of any existing security and registration of new interests for lenders. We plan these steps into the purchase so that they happen in the right order at closing.