Cheers, Mutt.
The passage of FAR 135 which I've quoted forced operators of aircraft of between 10 and 19 seats and all turbine-powered aircraft to upgrade to FAR 121, leaving only non-turbine aircraft of 9 seats or less eligible for 135. Therefore, it is relevant to this discussion.
Part 125 allows an operator of a private aircraft to hire the aircraft out but only to a private customer. Holding the aircraft out for public hire or having multiple private customers makes it ineligible for Part 125 operation:
§ 125.11 Certificate eligibility and prohibited operations.
(a) No person is eligible for a certificate or operations specifications under this part if the person holds the appropriate operating certificate and/or operations specifications necessary to conduct operations under part 121, 129 or 135 of this chapter.
(b) No certificate holder may conduct any operation which results directly or indirectly from any person's holding out to the public to furnish transportation.
(c) No person holding operations specifications under this part may operate or list on its operations specifications any aircraft listed on any operations specifications or other required aircraft listing under part 121, 129, or 135 of this chapter.
[Doc. No. 19779, 45 FR 67235, Oct. 9, 1980 as amended by Amdt. 125–9, 52 FR 20028, May 28, 1987]
The reason this has arisen in the discussion is that the CEO of the company has insisted that he is permitted to operate this B737 in commercial charter service under FAR 91 and the aircraft, which is N-registered, is being openly offered on the commercial market around the Middle East and Europe, which makes it ineligible for FAR 91 or FAR 125 operation. You are correct that it could be operated under the UAE AOC, if it were placed under the UAE AOC's Ops Specs and meets all of the requirements for operating such an aircraft under GCAA regulations for commercial services, same as are met by the large airlines like Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, etc. - including the question of acceptability of a non-A6-registered transport category aircraft to be operated on the commercial Ops Specs of a UAE certificate holder.
Last edited by Waste Management; 20th Nov 2011 at 13:46.