Isle of Man
Corporate aircraft registration in the Isle of Man
Introduction
The Isle of Man Aircraft Registry was established on May 1, 2007 to provide a customer focused service for the registration of high quality private and corporate jets and high quality turbine-engine helicopters. Isle of Man registered aircraft cannot be used for Commercial Air Transport.
The registry began registering private and corporate aircraft just as the international business world had realised the answer to costly, inefficient, unreliable public air transport was to operate their own corporate jet. Corporate jets immediately give a secure, fast service that operate to an individuals schedule and enable business to continue whilst travelling. No longer are businessmen restricted to someone else’s timetable or routing, they can go directly to the nearest airport and be on their way to the next meeting as soon as it is convenient.
Growth of the register
The Isle of Man has enjoyed one of the fastest growths ever seen in an offshore aircraft register. The Isle of Man government estimated that it would probably register 12 aircraft in the first year. This appeared a reasonable figure given that it had no history in registering aircraft and it expected that it would need to gain the confidence of the industry before owners would consider registering their new multi-million dollar aircraft on the island. In fact it actually registered 51 aircraft in the first year and 73 in the second year. Now less than two years after the start of operations, it has already registered over 134 aircraft with 60 aircraft applications in progress. The majority of these aircraft are new high quality corporate jets from every major worldwide business aircraft manufacturer including Gulfstream, Bombardier, Embraer, Dassault, Hawker Beechcraft, Cessna and the VIP airliner variants from Boeing and Airbus.
Benefits and standards
As the only dedicated corporate aircraft register in Europe, the Registry offers high international standards and a competitive scheme of charges. As the Registry has expanded we have increased our staff and moved to larger offices to ensure we maintain our high levels of service. We currently have eleven authorised airworthiness surveyors including a surveyor resident in the US.
Some benefits of registering an aircraft in the Isle of Man:
• High service levels and quality international reputation
• High regulatory standards
• Neutral nationality registration prefix
• Secure mortgage register
• No insurance premium tax (5% in UK)
• European time zone
• A Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s AAA rated jurisdiction
• Professional infrastructure with experience in aviation finance
• Clear and simple taxation regime
• Stable legal and political environment
The aim to maintain a high service standard also runs through those appointed to work at the registry. The majority of the register’s current 11 authorised airworthiness surveyors are ex-UK CAA with many years of experience. As many new jets are built in the US and Canada the register also has an experienced surveyor based in the US. This saves hours of travel and money for its clients when they are buying new or used jets in the US and Canada. In 2008 the registry also appointed a new chief surveyor. Working with the director of civil aviation, he is responsible for ensuring that Isle of Man registered aircraft conform to international standards including airworthiness, certification and maintenance. The role was in line with the strategic development of the island’s aircraft registry, its target aircraft being professionally flown new corporate jets for worldwide blue chip companies.
Denoting nationality
The UK acts as contracting state to support the Isle of Man internationally. Every aircraft has to be registered in an ICAO contracting state. The first one or two characters at the start of an aircraft registration marking denote its nationality. The Isle of Man’s prefix is ‘M’ and this has produced many interesting registrations such as M-AGIC, M-ONTY, M-YJET, M-AJOR, M-INOR, M-ONEY, M-YWAY. Indeed, two Isle of Man businessmen Jim Melon and Eddie Davies have made use of this – Jim Mellon’s plane is registered M-ELON and wanted to reserve other similar registrations for his future aircraft. This led the register to make another pragmatic decision and agreed to transfer M-ELON to Jim’s next aircraft. This system, which the UK is unable to provide, means Isle of Man aircraft owners can now retain their cherished aircraft registration.
Inward investment
The Isle of Man government also wanted to establish a private aircraft register to attract new business and inward investment to the Island. In 2003, through close co-operation of many branches of government working in concert with the private sector, the expertise in financial and professional services was successfully combined with the Island’s expertise in shipping, to launch a commercial super yacht register. The aircraft register was an obvious opportunity to replicate this success by targeting the aircraft management sector, which could provide similar benefits to the yacht management sector. The expertise the island had developed in yachting was highly analogous; hence targeting aircraft management was a logical growth strategy.
Outlook for the future
In 2007 over 1000 new business jets were sold worldwide and manufacturer’s order books for some models were completely sold out until 2012. Sales were expected to reach nearly 1400 new jets in 2008. In this buoyant market the Isle of Man’s register, set high standards, but with a friendly business focused style and was a breath of fresh air for owners and operators looking for a secure register that could meet their requirements.
It has still to be seen how seriously the current world financial crises will affect future orders but reports of cancellations, and slowing new orders, are at the moment only reducing delivery periods for some models. Manufacturers are reducing their production capacity to try and ride out these difficult times, but remain ready to increase production again when things improve.
Conclusion
A flexible customer focused approach is easy when you start with ‘a blank piece of paper’. The registry never has a problem with ‘we have always done it that way’ and has already changed many parts of its registration process because it has found an easier or more efficient way to meet its customer’s needs. Like the island’s Ship Registry it did not want to make a profit for the government and be viewed as a flag of convenience so its scheme of charges is extremely competitive and it is hoped the charges will cover just its costs.
In these turbulent times the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry believes it is in a market which is still growing despite the world’s financial problems. As queues in security processing and flight delays drive wealthy successful businessmen into more convenient corporate jets, they will today, more than ever, be looking for value and service. The Isle of Man has built a unique aircraft register with the support of enthusiastic professional staff and it aims in the future, like its jets, to keep flying higher and faster.
