UK To Rule on Foreign Aircraft Registration

The UK Department for Transport expects to publish next month the long-awaited findings of its proposal to set restrictions for foreign-registered aircraft that are based in the UK. The comment period ended last October. The proposal would limit the amount of time foreign-registered aircraft can be based in the UK to 90 days in any 12-month period. This requirement would not apply to aircraft registered in member states of the European Aviation Safety Agency. The British Business and General Aviation Association has staunchly opposed restrictions on foreign-registered aircraft based in Britain. It has argued that many operators feel compelled to register aircraft offshore because UK authorities have made it needlessly costly and difficult to put them on the British register. But the UK has expressed concerns about “significant differences” between UK requirements and those of offshore registers.