Outcry over act against foreign-registered aircraft
The UK Department for Transport (DfT) says it may take “months” to analyse the huge response to proposed legislation banning foreign-registered aircraft from being based in the UK.
The proposals were released on 4 August and industry responses were due by 31 October. General aviation organisations reacted furiously to the document, accusing the department of a “total misunderstanding” of the issues.
The DfT says: “It has become apparent there is a growing trend for UK residents to acquire foreign-registered aircraft and base them in the UK, where owners can take advantage of what are perceived as less onerous regulatory requirements.” It says the use of foreign-registered aircraft to opt out of the UK regulatory system “undermines the harmonised European standards that have been or are being established under the JAA and EASA system”.
The UK Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA-UK) takes particular exception to the department’s estimate of the cost of bringing foreign registered aircraft onto the UK register as “unlikely to exceed £250,000 [$438,000]”.
“We find that assumption to be totally inaccurate, which is not surprising given the overall poor quality of the paper,” says AOPA-UK. It suggests the total cost to operators will be closer to £30 million, “not taking into account the potential impact on jobs throughout the UK general aviation industry”. On safety, the DfT says it cannot be certain the relevant regulatory authorities have the ability to ensure that satisfactory safety standards apply to foreign-registered aircaft, concluding: “This is an unacceptable risk.”
AOPA-UK replies that the DfT has failed to point to any significant safety issues, and points to the department’s “crass statement” that it “does not know what other registers are involved or the safety risks associated with them”. The DfT paper, it adds, “assumes that safety will be improved just by forcing people to move onto the UK register. There is little evidence to support this.”
Industry sources believe the DfT realises its legislation was badly drafted and is quietly backing away. “Otherwise they wouldn’t say they need months to analyse it,” says one.
JULIAN MOXON/LONDON
Source: Flight International
