Bermuda warns of revoking pilots’ licenses from Russia

The British-owned Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) has warned that Russian pilots’ licenses will be revoked if they fly aircraft registered in Bermuda.

This is the response to the order signed by the head of the Russian government, Mikhail Mishustin, to suspend the intergovernmental agreement with Bermuda on the transfer of supervision over registered aircraft, which has been in operation since 1999. The decision was made in connection with the actions of the aviation authorities of Bermuda in relation to Russian airlines to cancel the airworthiness certificates for civil aircraft and failure to perform aircraft maintenance.

“The BCAA has never transferred the obligation to control the airworthiness of aircraft to the Russian Federation, since compliance with the rules and requirements in this area is the responsibility of the country in which these aircraft are registered, that is, Bermuda,” TASS quotes the aviation regulator. It is also stressed that only the BCAA can deregister Bermuda-registered aircraft at the request of the aircraft owner and in accordance with applicable laws and procedures in such cases.

Until recently, the largest part of Russian aircraft was in the registries of Bermuda or Ireland. The situation was changed by the sanctions imposed against Russian air carriers. On March 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on measures to support civil aviation, which makes it possible to register the rights to foreign aircraft leased by Russian companies, as well as issue domestic airworthiness certificates to them. Now the process of re-registration of aircraft in the Russian registry is underway.