November aircrafts abroad

[Lakz]

Hey guys.

I see a lot of November airplanes operating here and there in Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and so on... I even saw a domestic fleet in Laos with French callsigns. They are mostly owned by Americans or Europeans, and they're apparently making business out of it.

I was wondering what was the status of these airlines/flight schools.

How's this thing possible?
Are they considered as Americans or local companies?
Can they only hire FAA (or JAA) pilots? No locals?
How about the tax and all that stuff?
Are they under the FAA or the local regulations?
How difficult is it to bring abroad a N aircraft for business pruposes?

All that might seems dumb to you. But I just can't understand. All apologizes and please, enlight me.

[welliewanger]

I'm no expert on the technical legalities of aircraft registration, I only drive the things. But here's a (rather clumsy) explanation:

N reg aircraft are registered under the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority - the Americans) Like shipping has flags of convenience, aircraft operators frequently register their aircraft in countries which suit their needs. This could be for tax breaks, reduced maintenance costs, reduced training costs etc. N reg is no longer en vogue, I assume that many of the benefits of it are no longer there. Since then many aircraft have been registered VP-B (Cayman Islands). More recently M reg (Isle of Man) has been popular with biz jets.

Some authorities actively encourage this (Isle of Man) others (UK) make it very difficult.

These aircraft are governed principally by the laws of the counry in which they are registered. So an N reg aircraft must have FAA pilots who operate it under FAR (American laws) It must be maintained to FAA requirements etc. Essentially, it's an American plane operating in or outside of America. The company can be registered wherever they want and can employ whoever they want. As long as they have the required qualifications.

There is a small caveat. Many countries have local laws which must also be adhered to. These laws generally apply to the operation (flying) of aircraft (as opposed to maintenance). When an aircraft operates over another country, they must adhere to both their own laws and those of the country they are flying over, whichever is more restrictive.

HTH