The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas’ window of opportunity to establish a competitive international aircraft registry “won’t remain open very long”, a local attorney warned yesterday, as rival international business centres continue to get a head start on this nation.

Llewellyn Boyer-Cartwright, the Callender’s & Co attorney and partner who has led the drive to establish the Bahamas as a major international aircraft registry, told Tribune Business that with the likes of Guernsey planning to enter the sector this year that “the window of opportunity is now”.

Guernsey is planning to launch its own aircraft registry in June 2013, with a target of 150 registered planes by 2015. With the likes of Aruba, the Isle of Man, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Malta already established, the space is getting crowded from a competitive perspective, and finding a niche for the Bahamas could prove increasingly difficult.

Following advocacy efforts led by Mr Boyer-Cartwright, with private sector support, the Government formed the Aircraft Registry Consultative Committee in late 2012 to spearhead the initiative. Yet time could be running out, with the Bahamas seemingly some way behind its competitors.

“It’s a good question. It’s a very difficult one to answer,” Mr Boyer-Cartwright replied, when asked by Tribune Business whether the Bahamas’ window of opportunity on an international aircraft registry was closing.

“I want to say the window of opportunity is now, and it won’t remain open very long. If everyone starts jumping on board, all these jurisdictions will be competing with one another.

“We have to be very careful. We have to make sure, the Bahamas has to make sure it’s a viable option for us, but in my opinion it’s a no brainer. It’s a given. It’s win-win situation. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s taking the steps in the right direction.”

Noting that other jurisdictions were “getting on board” with this initiative, while many international financial centres already had aircraft registries, Mr Boyer-Cartwright said they all were “looking at this with the same eye I am; they can add this to the list of services they provide”.

The Isle of Man had established its aircraft registry in 2007, while Malta had passed its legislation in 2010 and was now looking to add a yacht registry to its menu of services for high net worth individuals and their families.

The premise was that if these persons owned a yacht, they also must own a jet, and vice versa.

Noting that the Bahamas already had an aircraft registry, Mr Boyer-Cartwright added: “We have the platform. We just have to improve upon it. We do have the capability to register the aircraft, depending on the type.

“It could make the difference between someone deciding whether to do business here or not. If there was a checklist, the Bahamas could tick all the boxes except one.”

The current registry is uncompetitive, and little used, because the Bahamas still charges Stamp Duty on planes registered in this nation. It also has yet to sign the Cape Town Convention, which would allow for this nation to register third-party ownership interests in aircraft.

The Isle of Man had targeted private aircraft as opposed to commercial planes, while Bermuda had cornered the Russian market.

Acknowledging that a Bahamian aircraft registry would have to meet international standards, and the requirements of the Civil Aviation Department and Flight Standards Inspectorate, Mr Boyer-Cartwright said this nation’s competitive niche lay in its proximity to the US.

It was a natural “transit” point for aircraft flying between Europe and Central/Latin America, he added, and the hub could be located on Grand Bahama or Andros - not necessarily New Providence.

Registering Boeing 747 aircraft in the Bahamas, Mr Boyer-Cartwright added, would open up a whole range of skilled, technical jobs, such as aircraft surveyors and appraisers, plus technical overseers.

“We need to look at our yacht registry, how we can better position ourselves to have more yachts registered here,” Mr Boyer-Cartwright told Tribune Business.

“The public might regard it as a failure. It just needs tweaking, and we need to market it in the right way.”

Arguing that it was vital to improve the ease of doing business in the Bahamas for foreign investors, and diversify the economy, Mr Boyer-Cartwright added that this nation needed to promote that it was “open for business”.

“We can look to the Bahamas as the land of opportunity,” he added. “If we can think it, we can do it. We just need to put our minds to it. There’s so much potential.

“We have to look forward. No rear view mirror on this one.”