The mood in private aviation is
upbeat following a difficult year, according to delegates at the industry’s
biggest air show.
The National Business Aviation
Association show in Atlanta,
Georgia, brings
together 25,000 professionals from the industry who discuss corporate and business
aviation. The Cayman Islands was represented
at last month’s show by a team from various aspects of the dual pillars of tourism
and finance. Personnel and information came from a variety of public and private
sector bodies, including Island Air, law firms Appleby and Maples and Calder,
the Department of Tourism and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands, said authority chairman Richard Smith.
“We have been exhibiting there
since 2003 and have become an expected presence at the trade show. Unlike last
year when we really saw the effects of the downturn in the economy worldwide,
this year’s show was very upbeat. Last year we had a lot of empty booth spaces
and so on, but this year they were all filled and there was a good atmosphere
that things are turning around. There has been 2 or 3 per cent growth in the
business aviation market which was encouraging.”
He said that the authority was
there both to expose the aircraft register as well as the jurisdiction as a
whole, which is why there was a partnership alongside different sectors with
the intent to showcase Cayman Islands’
business and tourism opportunities.
“It’s an opportunity for us to
liaise with existing clients and meet new clients. You get a lot of interaction
and interest in registration – you don’t necessarily walk away with promises
for registration, but it does lead to that eventually. What’s also important
for our clients is that standards are always changing and we need to keep up
with them so we do face-to-face briefings. Also, people have questions about setting
up companies here and having the lawyers right there to answer those types of
questions serves us well,” said Mr. Smith.
Shari McField-Bell of Maples and
Calder said that it was important to the company to exhibit, as they saw it an
excellent opportunity to highlight aircraft registration-related and other
services they offered and to continue to promote the registry.
“The main query related to why
parties should register aircraft in the Cayman Islands.
In addition, attendees asked about the types of company structures available,
the typical financing structures which may be utilised as well as queries
relating to conducting business in Cayman.
“Inevitably, some attendees also
asked questions about Cayman’s reputation as a tax haven, so the conference
presented an excellent opportunity to meet with people on a one-on-one basis to
address the myths and stereotypes in this regard,” she said.
Shipping
synergy
Marcus Cumber of Island Air said
there was also a synergy between the shipping industry and aviation as many
yacht owners are likely to also own a private plane. He added that he advised
plane owners on paperwork and overflight paperwork for Cuba. The economic
crisis has changed the way general aviation works, he noted.
“We saw glum looks for the last two
years as corporate America
really suffered, but the energy is back… a lot of companies thought that it
was excessive and greedy cutting jobs but still having a corporate jet. What
they realised was that there was still functionality and savings by having a
jet, instead of having it on their books they either sold them and chartered or
gave them to fractional ownerships like NetJets for credit hours.”
Mr. Cumber reiterated that Cayman’s
reputation is good in the general aviation community, which appreciates the
ease and speed of processing through the private airport, as well as safety and
reliability.
Cayman’s stand at the air show also
drew interest for other reasons, added Mr. Smith.
“Our booth has become quite
popular. When you go to these conferences everyone has a giveaway and ours is
Tortuga Rum Cake. It’s amazing how well that goes down – people come by just to
have some, which is a draw in itself.”
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