The islanders of Aruba are hoping to persuade owners and operators to register their aircraft with them instead of in their neighbouring Caribbean tax havens of Bermuda and Cayman Islands.
Using the slogan "the flag of choice with convenience", Aruba, a Dutch-influenced island of 150 km2 just off the coast of Venezuela, claims many advantages over its neighbouring competitors.
Isolated from the political turbulence of the region, and with a western-oriented democracy, Aruba offers a "tax heaven" environment, together with the stability offered through the jurisdiction of the Dutch law. Aruba became constitutionally autonomous except for external affairs and defence within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1986. Its 70,000 people are governed by a council of ministers with a prime minister and with the Queen of the Netherlands, represented by a governor, as head of state.
Currently, more than 70 aircraft are registered in Aruba - from B747s downwards - taking advantage of the favourable zero-tax regime. President and chief executive officer of the Registry Aruba, which has offices in the USA, Greece and Dubai, is Jorge C Colindres and he can be found at Asian Aerospace, sharing a stand with Jet Aviation (Stand C314).
Source: Flight Daily News
