Air Transport Licensing
Please note that further consideration is being given to amend the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Act 2007 and the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Regulations 2007 to which reference is made in this summary.
However, it is not expected that the requirements for satisfying the Air Transport Licensing Panel or the information required to be provided by applicants in FORM 9080 (see below) will change.
REQUIREMENT FOR AN AIR TRANSPORT LICENCE
Under section 8 of the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Act 2007 operators of any aircraft used for the carriage for reward of passengers or cargo must hold an Air Transport Licence (ATL) granted by Bermuda’s Air Transport Licensing Panel if:
- the flight is anywhere in the world and the aircraft is registered in Bermuda, or
- the flight begins or ends in Bermuda and the aircraft is not registered in Bermuda
unless,
- the flight is operated by an external airline, or
- the flight is the subject of an exemption from the requirement to hold an ATL and
- an external airline is one that has its place of business in a country other than the United Kingdom or any territory for whose foreign relations Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom is responsible, and
- an exemption refers to an instrument made by the Minister in respect of a flight of a description specified in that instrument or a particular flight or series of flights so specified.
It is an offence for an operator to use an aircraft in contravention of the above requirement to hold an ATL.
APPLYING FOR AN AIR TRANSPORT LICENCE
Applications for the grant of an ATL must be made to the Air Transport Licensing Panel using FORM 9080.
To request the ATL application form and for further guidance contact the Operations Section of the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority by email at flightops@bcaa.bm.
However, applicants and other interested persons are encouraged to refer to the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Act 2007 and the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Regulations 2007 before contacting the Operations Section.
GRANT OF AN AIR TRANSPORT LICENCE
Before granting an application, the Panel must be satisfied that the applicant is a fit person to operate aircraft under the authority of the licence, having regard to –
(i) the experience in the field of aviation and past activities of the applicant and applicant’s employees, and
(ii) the resources of the applicant and the financial arrangements made by the applicant, and whether they are adequate for discharging the applicant’s actual and potential financial obligations in respect of which the applicant is engaged (if any) and in which the applicant may be expected to engage if the applicant is granted the licence, and
(iii) the adequacy of the insurance covering the applicant’s potential obligations,
and that the applicant is:
(a) a person with Bermudian status;
(b) a person, incorporated under the law of Bermuda, which is controlled by persons of Bermudian status; or
(c) a person in respect of whom, although that person does not qualify under (a) or (b) above, the Minister has consented to the grant of the licence.
It should be noted that, although the applicant will be expected to hold an appropriate Air Operator Certificate (AOC) as a condition to grant of an ATL the holding of an AOC will not by itself satisfy the requirements in the GRANT OF AN AIR TRANSPORT LICENCE (i) and (ii) paragraphs (above).
REVOCATION, SUSPENSION, AND VARIATION OF AN AIR TRANSPORT LICENCE
The Panel may at any time revoke, suspend or vary an air transport licence if it considers it appropriate to do so, and shall revoke, suspend or vary an ATL (whichever it thinks appropriate in the circumstances) if it is not, or is no longer, satisfied as to any of the matters of which it is required to be satisfied pursuant to GRANT OF AN AIR TRANSPORT LICENCE.
APPEALS
Every party has the right of appeal to the Minister from the Panel’s air transport licence decision in accordance with the regulation. Details of the person(s) who may appeal and the appeal procedure are set out in the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Regulations 2007.
EXEMPTIONS
Exemptions from the requirements to hold an ATL are a matter for the discretion of the Minister and instruments specifying flights for which an ATL is not required are made by the Minister, by exception only. For further information please contact the Operations Section of the BCAA as shown at GRANT OF AN AIR TRANSPORT LICENCE above.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The above guidance contains only a short summary of the requirements and procedures in respect of air transport licensing. For full details, reference should be made to the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Act 2007 and the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Regulations 2007.
Updated as of March 2022.