Managing and Operating a Business Jet on the Maltese Register - Part 3

In this article we will treat the labour conditions in Malta and typical charges related to operating a business jet on the Maltese Register. As per statistics published in 2006, Malta had the 10th cheapest labour cost in the private sector from all European Union Countries. At just under 10 Euro per hour, Malta is cheaper than Portugal, Slovenia, Cyprus, Greece and Spain. More importantly the rate of salary increase was the second lowest from the 10 countries with the cheapest labour cost, at under 3.5%. That said, aviation being a very specialized industry, salaries in this sector are higher than the average, and with big players, such as Air Malta, Lufthansa Technik, and Servisair Globe Ground already established in Malta, there is already a healthy pool of aviation trained personnel, in all the major areas, such as Flight and Ground Operations as well as with Technical staff. Malta has two flight schools and the Local Government has assisted Lufthansa Technik amongst other ways by means of a collaboration between The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, and Lufthansa for the training and development of their local employees. A company operating a Challenger 605 and a Lear 60 XR will pay the authority just over 36,000.00 Euros for the first issue of an AOC and then barely over 16,000.00 Euros per annum for renewal fees. Hardly forbidding charges. More importantly an aircraft registration and/or AOC should be obtained within 90 days. This is achievable in Malta, as the Department of Civil Aviation is still relatively young and can give interested parties undivided attention. Assuming the owners/operator provide all the necessary information and documents. Other costs involved would be the setting up a company structure to own the aircraft and or apply for the Air Operating Certificate. These costs are estimated to be in the region of 2,000 to 5,000 Euros per annum, depending on the level of actual presence of the company on the island.