Some Caribbean Nations Draw Increasing Number Aircraft Registrations

Worried about the Stars and Stripes waving from your tail fin as you land in a country hostile to the United States?

Concerned about your security if kidnappers or terrorists realize that a billionaire might be aboard your plane?

Need to slip into an executive airport without the competition knowing you're in town?

Flying incognito isn't just for celebrities anymore. In a world replete with risks to life, limb and company secrets, foreign registration of private and business aircraft is booming in relatively obscure places such as these tiny islands south of Cuba.

The Caymans and Aruba in the Caribbean and Bermuda have emerged as the most popular registries in this region, and probably are among the first choices globally for plane owners looking offshore. The islands are able to attract and satisfy a high-flying clientele with First World legal services, political stability and reliable law enforcement.

The islands have long been refuges for foreign money, and U.S. aircraft owners with international business can legally reduce tax and registration costs by getting offshore certification. But Caribbean registrars and legal consultants catering to executive jet owners contend that the benefits of foreign registration amount to more than simple cost cutting.

"Some aircraft operators consider a United States-registered aircraft operating in certain parts of the world to be a more likely target of terrorist threats," said Chad S. Nelson, a lawyer specializing in aircraft registration and finance in Wichita, Kan.

In the U.S., the names of owners -- and likely passengers -- of private aircraft can be learned with a few mouse clicks, because the Federal Aviation Administration's aircraft registrations are publicly accessible. Not so in the Caribbean, where only the name of a holding company is readily available to the public.

"There are times when a lower-profile flag than U.S. registration is needed for political reasons," said James E. Cooling, a pilot and tax attorney in Kansas City, Mo.

"Security considerations are very important and will only become more important in the future."

Among those who prefer the anonymity of Cayman registration are the executives of German automaker Volkswagen, international transport and energy giant Rolls-Royce, and the Saudi trade and contracting conglomerate Saad Group, as well as an unspecified European royal family.

Caribbean air safety officials say the passenger profiles and tax rates may be lower but airworthiness and maintenance standards are not.

"We don't see ourselves as a registry of convenience," said Ian Scott, director of air safety regulation for the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands. "Our standards exceed those of bigger countries."

In addition to ensuring that an aircraft was bought with clean money, the Cayman aviation authority subjects owners to a global review by law enforcement agencies such as Interpol and the FBI to determine whether there are any international warrants or concerns about the client, Scott said.

A decade ago, the agency oversaw only a dozen or so aircraft: Cayman Airways' five Boeing 737s, the two turboprops operated by Cayman Express, two crop dusters that spray against mosquitoes, a helicopter used for aerial tours and some locally owned private planes. Today, more than 130 aircraft are registered in the Caymans.

The Caymans' aviation authority recently registered its first Airbus 340, a four-engine jet owned by the Saad Group, which also has ordered an Airbus A380, the long-haul behemoth that flew a test run into Los Angeles International Airport last month.

Foreign registration is legal for U.S. aircraft owners as long as the certifying country adheres to International Civil Aviation Organization standards as determined by the FAA, said FAA spokesman Hank Price.

"We have an international aviation assessment program where we rate a country based on its meeting or not meeting ICAO standards," he said, referring to an agency website that rates Bermuda, the Caymans, Aruba and half a dozen other islands as Class 1, or compliant with global standards.

The Cayman aircraft registry has only five helicopters on the rolls, but Civil Aviation Authority official Nikki McCoy predicted that would be an ascendant category.

Dozens of mega-yachts under construction around the world that are destined to be registered here, she said, are being outfitted with helipads for private choppers.

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