Air Transport Licensing
REQUIREMENT FOR AN AIR TRANSPORT LICENCE
Under section 8 of the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Act 2007 (as amended by the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Amendment Act 2024) (“the 2007 Act") 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
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 principal 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
- exemption refers to an instrument made by the Minister pursuant to section 8 (3) of the 2007 Act 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 (“Panel”) using the application form published by the Panel here.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further guidance may be sought from the Operations Section of the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority by email at flightops@bcaa.bm.
However, it must be understood that ATLs are granted by the Panel and not by the BCAA. Applicants and other interested persons are encouraged to refer to the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Act 2007 (as amended) and the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Regulations 2007 and the guidance below before contacting the Operations Section .
The following is provided by the BCAA for information only and contains only a short summary of the requirements and procedures in respect of air transport licensing.
CONDITIONS FOR 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 an ATL the holding of an AOC will not by itself satisfy the requirements under GRANT OF AN AIR TRANSPORT LICENCE in (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 ATL 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 the 2007 Act: see GRANT OF AN AIR TRANSPORT LICENCE.
OBJECTIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS
Objections or representations may be made to an application for an ATL. Details are set out in regulation 8 of the Civil Aviation (Air Transport Licensing) Regulations 2007.
HEARINGS
In certain circumstances the Panel may hold a public hearing before reaching a decision on an ATL application. Details are set out in regulation 8 of 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.
The Minister is likely to consider making such an instrument only if the Minister has been satisfied that one (or more) of the conditions for the grant of an ATL (see above) does not need to be satisfied* in respect of the proposed operations, but all other conditions are satisfied.
* By way of example only, the Minister has granted exemptions in respect of particular sole use charter flights where the Minister has been satisfied that such charter flights did not need to be the subject of a detailed financial fitness analysis by the Panel and all other conditions were satisfied.
For further information please contact the Operations Section of the BCAA by email as shown above.
Updated as of [12] April 2024