Aircraft Registration
Malta prides itself on being a nation known for its aircraft registry. Since 2010, when the Aircraft Registration Malta Act was implemented, Malta has become a leading jurisdiction for aircraft registry for owners and operators of aircraft.
The Aircraft Registration Malta Act of 2010
The Aircraft Registration Malta Act of 2010 (the “Act”) was designed to regulate aircraft registration, the implementation of the Cape Town Convention, the registration and enforcement of aircraft mortgages, and the aircraft protocol and its interface with Maltese law.
Our Aviation Services
We provide our clients with the full spectrum of services necessary to register and maintain an aircraft in Malta, as well as other ancillary services. More specifically, we offer:
- Registration of aircraft in Malta
- Assistance with applications for Air Operator Certificates (AOC) and Operating Licenses
- Advisory on structuring for VAT and tax-planning maximization
- Advisory on tax and other related issues in connection with aviation leasing and financing
- Assistance in determining alternative financing structures for aircraft leasing
- Accounting, audit, tax, and company secretarial support services
As a one-stop-shop firm, we offer unique, tailored services that fit the specific needs of each of our clients, including advising them on optimal tax-planning opportunities and on the most suitable approaches to business operation in the aviation industry.
Benefits of registering an aircraft in Malta:
- An attractive corporate tax system
- Recognition of fractional ownership of aircraft so that a title may be divided between co-owners in specified fractions or percentages, each of which may be financed by a different creditor taking security over the particular fractional interest for which finance has been provided
- Broad registration possibilities for aircraft not used in commercial air transport
- Robust legislative framework and an extensive network of double taxation treaties
- Transparency of rights and interests in aircraft
- No withholding tax on lease payments where the lessor is not a tax resident of Malta
- Competitive minimum depreciation periods for aircraft
- Implementation of the provisions of the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and its Aircraft Protocol, which grant secured lenders a higher degree of protection and more effective remedies, whilst also allowing lower borrowing costs
- Possibility of registering aircraft under construction once they are uniquely identifiable with airworthiness, with the suspension of surveys until the construction of the aircraft is completed
- Possibility of recording various details pertaining to the aircraft, its ownership, or any other relevant interest
- Local availability of a wide range of airline services (aircraft and engine maintenance, repair and overhaul, aircraft management, aircraft maintenance training, and other ancillary support services) and
- High standards of safety and security.
Who can register in Malta:
Registering a Commercial Aircraft
- The Government of Malta
- A citizen of Malta or a citizen of a Member State of the EU or of an EEA State, or Switzerland, having a place of residence or business in Malta, the EU, the EEA, or Switzerland, including a person sharing in the ownership of such aircraft by virtue of the community of acquests subsisting between such person and a citizen, as described above, in whose name the aircraft is registered and
- An undertaking formed and existing in accordance with the laws of Malta, of a Member State of the EU, of an EEA State, or of Switzerland and having its registered office, central administration, and principal place of business within Malta, or the EU, or the EEA, or Switzerland, wherein no less than 50% of the undertaking is owned and effectively controlled by the Government of Malta, or by any Member State of the EU or by persons referred to above, whether directly or indirectly through one or more intermediate undertakings.
All operators of aircraft engaged in commercial activity require an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and an Operating License. The Civil Aviation Directorate at the Authority for Transport in Malta has the power to certify operators of aircraft in accordance with Annex III to Regulation (EC) 3922/1991, as amended (EU-OPS 1).
Registering a Private Aircraft
- Any natural person who is a citizen of, or an undertaking established in, a member country of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and any other country approved by the Minister by notice for the purposes of the Act (termed “International Registrant” in the Act), may register a private aircraft on the Maltese register, provided it:
- has the legal capacity to own/operate an aircraft in terms of law;
- appoints a local resident agent to represent the owner in Malta for matters concerning the registration of the aircraft; and
- complies with applicable regulations/guidelines.