The government and private sector of the Cayman Islands have
demonstrated their commitment to the implementation of regulation which
meets and exceeds international standards for transparency and exchange
of information.
The Cayman Islands aircraft registry is known to be the
registry of choice for many private aircraft owners.
Even
though the standards to register an aircraft are rigid and specifications must
be exact in order to qualify, this has led the Cayman Islands registry to be
highly recognised and respected throughout the aviation industry internationally.
These include aircraft securitisations, aircraft multi-ownership
structures, on and off-balance sheet structures, export credit-agency supported
facilities, pre-delivery payment financings, bilateral and syndicated loans and
operating and finance leases.
In July 2009 the Cayman Islands enacted the Cape Town Convention Law 2009. The intention of the Convention has been to standardise transactions involving moveable property with respect to aircraft objects such as airframes, aircraft engines and helicopters.
In 2008, the industry lost US$5.2b as a result of the sudden increase in oil and jet-fuel prices and the bulk of the losses were sustained in the US where many airlines had insufficient hedging protection in place. Fuel accounted for 32 per cent of airlines’ operating costs in 2008, according to the International Air Transport Association forecast, published in February 2009.