A bill and accompanying regulations that officials hope will allow the territory’s aircraft registry to grow and provide government with additional revenue came into force last week, according to the Gazette.
The Mortgaging of Aircraft and Aircraft Engines Act 2011 and the Mortgaging of Aircraft and Aircraft Engines Regulation 2012 both took effect on Oct. 15. The laws are intended to expand the Virgin Islands’ aircraft registry, which has existed for more than 40 years but has so far been limited to a handful of locally used aircraft.
According to international rules, all aircraft, their engines and their mortgages must be officially listed with a country’s or territory’s registry. An update to the registry’s rules was needed, legislators said during a House of Assembly debate in May, because the complexity of aircraft financing has increased significantly in recent decades. The new laws created separate registries for aircraft, their engines and their mortgages.
See the Oct. 25, 2012 edition for full coverage.
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