Premier In Russia Meeting With Airline Officials
Premier Dr. Ewart Brown departed for Russia yesterday [May 9] and will return to Bermuda on Thursday, May 13th. He joins Thomas Dunstan, Bermuda’s Director of Civil Aviation who is already in Moscow.
As revealed in a press conference last week, the UK Government has questioned the Aircraft Registry of Bermuda particularly in relation to Russian aircraft, saying “Bermuda is conducting a revenue raising business” and that they “would find it hard to accept the ongoing operation of the register in its current form at all.”
The fact the UK seems to have contention with Bermuda raising revenue caused a rare occurrence during a debate the House of Assembly; agreement. The Premier addressed the issue and said “I thought raising money was allright”, to which the combined members of the House seemed to agree. The Premier noted this, and jokingly asked the Speaker of the House to “record this moment”.
The Premier intends to discuss this issue with Russian Airline officials and representatives of their Department of Civil Aviation during his visit, and provide a formal response to the British Government upon his return.
The Premier said:
The Aircraft Registry contibutes millions of dollars to Bermuda’s economy. Its success is a result of the hard work and foresight of this government and we will strenuously oppose any interference in our Aircraft Registry. We would prefer if the UK would give us an opportunity to make improvements to the Register.
We understand the economic pressures in play in Europe but Bermuda must also prepare itself for the impact of the recession. The Registry is a significant revenue earner for our country.
The aircraft registry has existed for many decades, and generates revenue for the Bermuda Government. In 2003, the Bermuda Aircraft Registry earned $3.5 million dollars. Five years later, in 2008, the Registry brought in $10 million. In 2010/11, the Finance Minister projected that the Aircraft Registry would bring in $20 million.
The UK order applicable to Bermuda is the Air Navigation [Overseas Territories] Order 2007 which contains the legal framework for aviation in the Territories and for Territory-registered aircraft. The full order is available here [216 page PDF]. For further information, you can also visit the Bermuda Department of Civil Aviation website.
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