Brian Johnson, Director of Operations, Appleby Aviation shared his expertise and insight on offshore aircraft registration at the annual Business Aircraft Finance, Registration & Legal Conference in Florida this month.

Organised by the National Business Aircraft Association (“NBAA”), the leading voice for the business aviation industry in the United States, the two day conference provides an essential, interactive and thought-leading programme for global business aircraft owners, financiers and lawyers.

In his address, “Seeking an Alternative Jurisdiction for Aircraft Registration - the Isle of Man and Other Options”, Brian, together with co-presenter Heather Gordon of Cains Advocates, discussed the considerations aircraft owners face when choosing an aircraft registry, including ease of registration and deregistration, the impact on USA and international operations, export, import and customs issues, taxes and fees, treaties, due diligence and the differences from US registration.

Brian and Heather were joined by fellow Isle of Man delegate Mark Byrne of the ICM Group who presented on “Wrestling with the EU - Challenges and Solutions for the VAT and EU-ETS (Emissions) Issues”.

“I would like to thank NBAA for the opportunity to be involved in this thought-provoking conference”, said Brian. “Against the global backdrop of economic turmoil, the aviation industry has stayed remarkably strong and it is thanks to events such as these that allow the industry to get together and address the challenges ahead.”

He continued, “The Isle of Man has successfully positioned itself as a leading player in the aviation industry and NBAA provided the perfect platform to promote this expertise on the international stage. All of the speakers present were prominent experts on their subjects and many spoke very positively of the Isle of Man.

For Appleby Aviation it was a chance to meet with new and existing contacts from around the world and gain an insight into the future trends and development of the industry. With offices in the aircraft registry locations of Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man we are perfectly positioned to advise on all aspects of offshore aviation.”

Appleby Aviation brings together a wealth of experience and diverse skills from its legal and fiduciary teams to provide a seamless service to aviation clients. The team are regular attendees at leading aviation events and are currently finalising plans for the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (“EBACE”) in Geneva where the team will occupy stand 2261 during the exhibition in May.