Managing and Operating a Business Jet on the Maltese Register - Part 1

In a number of articles we will try to identify why Malta can be an interesting avenue where one could register a business jet. The first part of these series of articles deals with a brief introduction about aviation in Malta and a brief outlook of the Maltese Fiscal system.

Having been a colony of Great Britain for 164 years (1800-1964), and then continued to serve as a base for Britain's Armed Forces for a further 15 years, Malta was introduced to the world of aviation from a very early start. From the construction of the first airfield to the ravages of World War Two, the build up for the Suez canal, through four hi-jacks, and on to today's Malta International Air show, Malta has seen almost all the uses an aircraft can be put to. The Malta Department of Civil Aviation records show that when the Maltese aircraft register was opened in 1969 introducing the Maltese register prefix 9H, the first aeroplane to be registered, 9H-AAA was in fact a Cessna 172. The next two aircraft on the register were also general aviation aircraft, as were many others that followed. The aircraft were largely owned and operated by Maltese general aviation pilots. Today, the local general aviation fleet includes a wider variety of aircraft types and categories ranging from microlights to single engine private planes and public category aircraft available for rental. A small fleet of training aircraft is operated by two flying schools.

Malta has an excellent climate, is strategically located at the centre of the Mediterranean and has one of the last 24 hour airports in the European Union. It has one of the longest runways in Europe with practically no slots issues. Local business and the Maltese government are only now starting to fathom that there could be a great potential for managing and operating business aviation aircraft from Malta, offering very competitive licencing fees, in an English speaking country in an EASA/JAA environment. This combined with excellent tax structures for foreign investors, whereby, although corporate tax is fixed at 35%, foreign shareholders are refunded 30% within 14 days.