Maltese registration chaos

[LGS6753]

Normally, aircraft registrations are in the format X-XXXX or XX-XXX.
There are long-established exceptions, but it is unusual for any registration to exceed five letters/numbers.
However, noted at Luton today have been the following:
9H-649FX
9H-SPEED
9H-JANE
I have also noted a few in the EJ-XXXX range.
Has the international consensus on registrations broken down?

[SpringHeeledJack]

Yes,I've been wondering about that for the last few years when I've encountered the odd 'strange' reg. I suppose that after the amazing success of the M- register above and beyond the VP- registers, other jurisdictions decided to jump into the game. Perhaps by allowing pimped out reg;s by adding more possibilities it appeals to the new breed of international image conscious/obsessed high-worth individuals. Everyone who sees your aircraft knows it's you and you have projected your aura of success and wealth effortlessly.

If I had one, i'd be more inclined to be discrete, but horses for courses....

[horatio_b]

San Marino (T7) is another one - used purely as a flag of convenience as it does not have an airport. Any combination of letters or numbers seems acceptable e.g. T7-17777 and T7-88DGE are both current

[DaveReidUK]

ICAO specifies only the nationality part of a registration. What follows is purely up to the individual country.

[treadigraph]

I keep seeing T7960 popping up on ADSBX, initially thought it was the world's fastest Tigermoth... oh, one they TBM jobbies...

Actually i see T9760 was a Maggie...

[dixi188]

My old boss had "G-UESSwho" on his Citation.
I always liked the IL62 - CCCP86666. 9 characters, are there any longer ones?

[Asturias56]

I think it always was a "consensus" not a rule

And if someone one wants to pay extra for a personalised registration it would be silly not to take their money in these troubled times

After all - its more memorable

[SWBKCB]

Not sure what the fuss/chaos is about. You managed to correctly identify the aircraft, and isn't that the point?

Personally, the world went to hell in a handcart once the CAA started handing out 'out-of-sequence' registrations willy-nilly - nothing else really mattered after that :ok:

[treadigraph]

My old boss had "G-UESSwho" on his Citation.

Sad loss of that aircraft and its occupants, the "who" always made me smile when I saw it at Biggin. Owner later died in a Seabee crash I think?

[SpringHeeledJack]

Personally, the world went to hell in a handcart once the CAA started handing out 'out-of-sequence' registrations willy-nilly - nothing else really mattered after that

I have to confess back in the day when I collected registrations, the above got under my skin at first and it made the joy of spotting diminish for a while :}​​​​​​​