Our company owns an aircraft that we intend to lease to a Slovak airline. This Slovak airline will operate the aircraft; therefore, the aircraft must be registered in the Slovak aircraft register. We have experience with registering aircraft with the Czech Civil Aviation Authority, but we have no experience with the Slovak Transport Authority. How does aircraft registration work in Slovakia? What documents need to be submitted? Do the Slovak authorities accept documents in English, as is the case in the Czech Republic?
As a member of the European Union, Slovakia is part of the civil aviation system, which falls under the jurisdiction of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The basic legal framework for European civil aviation is governed by EU Regulation 2018/1139 on common rules in the field of civil aviation, which establishes EASA. This regulation is directly binding in all EU Member States, including the Slovak Republic. In addition to the Member States of the European Union, EASA also has several associated states, such as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which have joined the system by means of special agreements.
The Slovak regulator in the field of civil aviation is the Transport Authority of the Slovak Republic. For the most part, it is governed by EASA rules. Some specific details are regulated by Slovak Act No. 143/1998 Coll. on Civil Aviation, as amended. Aircraft registration in the Slovak Republic is essentially carried out in accordance with the unified European system. The Slovak aircraft register registers aircraft (i) owned by legal entities based in Slovakia or by natural persons with Slovak citizenship and permanent residence in Slovakia, and (ii) aircraft operated by these Slovak legal entities or natural persons. One of the conditions for entry in the Slovak aircraft register is that the aircraft must no longer be entered in the register of another country.
Only the aircraft owner or a person authorised by the owner may apply for registration of the aircraft in the Slovak aircraft register. Even before the actual registration of the aircraft, the owner or a person authorised by the owner may apply to the Transport Authority of the Slovak Republic for the preliminary assignment of an aircraft registration code. Aircraft registered in the Slovak aircraft register use the OM registration code prefix. Many will remember that Czechoslovak aircraft used the OK prefix, which has remained with aircraft registered in the Czech aircraft register to this day.
The owner can speed up the aircraft registration process by requesting a preliminary assignment of an aircraft registration code in advance, which is then valid for one year. However, preliminary assignment of a registration code is not a prerequisite for registration in the aircraft register. The Transport Authority will register the aircraft even without preliminary assignment of a registration code, but the registration process then takes longer. Nevertheless, preliminary assignment of a registration code can be beneficial for a number of reasons. It allows the applicant to get a registration code with a designation that suits them. Furthermore, if the aircraft has been assigned a registration code, all other documents and certificates required for the operation of the aircraft (e.g. an insurance certificate) can be issued for the aircraft with that specific registration code. This is practical and speeds up the overall process. In any case, if the aircraft has not been assigned a code before registration, it is assigned to the aircraft in accordance with Section 26(2) of the Civil Aviation Act upon entry in the aircraft register.
The Transport Authority processes the registration promptly, provided that the owner or their representative has submitted all the required documents. The list of documents to be submitted is published on the Transport Authority’s website.
First and foremost, this is an application for registration of the aircraft in the aircraft register, which includes details on the aircraft, the owner, the operator and, where applicable, the lien holder that holds a lien on the aircraft. Please note that it is also necessary to fill in the contact details of the statutory representatives of the owner, operator and lien holder including their telephone numbers and email addresses. This is in case the Transport Authority needs to contact these persons urgently.
If the owner does not register the aircraft themselves (which is common in the case of owners from other countries), a power of attorney authorising a representative to act on behalf of the owner must be submitted at the time of registration. If a lien is also being registered, a power of attorney from the lien holder must also be submitted. In such case, it is also necessary to provide extracts from the commercial registers of the owner and the lien holder, which show, among other things, that the persons who signed the powers of attorney are authorised to act on behalf of the principals.
If the owner is not also the aircraft operator, which is your case, the Transport Authority also requires the submission of a document proving the operating rights to the aircraft for registration. This is typically an aircraft lease agreement or other type of agreement that establishes the operator’s right to use the aircraft. If a lien is also registered on the aircraft, the lien agreement must be submitted.
Powers of attorney and documents proving operating and lien rights must be submitted either in Slovak or Czech or with an official translation into these languages. The Slovak Transport Authority does not accept English or other foreign-language originals for these documents. We have found it useful to use bilingual (Slovak-English) documents, which are fully accepted without the need for an official translation. We always submit these in the case of powers of attorney. However, we also often use them for lease and lien agreements. These are usually extensive and complex documents, for which obtaining an official translation can be time-consuming, administratively challenging and costly. The Transport Authority readily accepts brief, abridged bilingual versions of these documents, as long as they clearly demonstrate the legal title of the owner or lien holder.
If this is not the first registration of the aircraft, confirmation of the deletion of the aircraft from the register in which it was previously registered must be submitted. In addition, an insurance certificate valid on the date of registration, photographs of the aircraft, including the fuselage and engine parts, and confirmation of payment of the administrative fee must be submitted. The administrative fee varies based on the size of the engine. For up-to-date information on administrative fees, visit the Civil Aviation Authority website.
If the documentation is complete, registration can be completed within ten days. From our point of view, registering an aircraft in the Slovak Republic is not an administratively challenging process, provided that the documentation is properly prepared and communication with the Transport Authority takes place in advance and in a timely manner.
In our experience, it is advisable to allow at least one calendar month for the entire registration process. This is especially true if the aircraft is also subject to a lien, which must also be entered in the aircraft register, which is a standard requirement of lien holders. This time includes collecting and preparing documents, obtaining signatures, communication with the Transport Authority, and ensuring the validity of the aircraft registration decision.
Our experience with the Transport Authority of the Slovak Republic has been very good, and we appreciate their open communication and assistance during the registration process.
