The Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority warmly welcomes all visitors to our wonderful and beautiful island, and especially those who are travelling here by chartered business jets. To ensure that your journey is conducted in a safe and responsible manner, the BCAA conducts compliance checks on all charter flights wishing to land here. It is our responsibility to you and the people of Bermuda that you travel on the safest of flights and permissions will only be granted to those operations which meet our high standards.
The information below is a guide for aircraft seeking a BCAA Foreign Operator Permit.
General
Permits are required for any aircraft registered in an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Contracting State (other than the United Kingdom or any of the UK Overseas Territories) or in any country other than the United Kingdom, if valuable consideration is given or promised in respect of the carriage of persons or cargo in Bermuda. For operations that apply, permission is required from the Governor of Bermuda through Article 135 of the Air Navigation (Overseas Territories) Order (AN(OT)O) 2013, as amended. This permission will be given to the operator or charterer of the aircraft or to the government of the country in which the aircraft is registered, and in accordance with any conditions to which such permission may be subject.
Permission from the Governor of Bermuda is granted through the BCAA Foreign Operator Permit process. Detailed information on Article 135 of the AN(OT)O 2013 is available here.
To be granted a Foreign Operator Permit by the BCAA, the operator of the aircraft must submit:
- A completed Foreign Operator Permit application form with supporting documentation
- The appropriate fee
- Evidence of adequate aircraft insurance in accordance with BCAA established criteria. Insurance requirements are outlined below.
Bermuda Foreign Operator Permit Applicants should use the Bermuda Foreign Operator Permit application form.
Completed applications with supporting documentation should be submitted to ForeignOperatorPermit@bcaa.bm.
The BCAA maintains compliance with Article 135 through surveillance activities described below.
Insurance Requirements
All aircraft visiting Bermuda must be adequately insured. The BCAA has adopted the criteria applicable in Europe and promulgated in EC Regulation 785/2004.
The minimum insurance cover detailed below is in US Dollars (USD), based on a conversion rate from Special Drawing Right (SDR) calculated by the International Monetary Fund. As of 24 March 2020, 1 SDR equals to 1.35 USD. The conversion is then rounded up to the nearest million.
The level of cover is applicable to both Commercial Air Transport and General Aviation (FAA Part 91 and 125). The required level of required insurance coverage is based on Maximum Take-off Mass (MTOM) in kilograms as defined in the aircraft certification process.
| Category | MTOM Range | Required Insurance Cover (millions of dollars) |
Example Aircraft Types |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | < 6,000 kg | $10.0 | King Air 200/250 Cessna 525 Phenom 100 |
| 2 | Between 6.000kgs and 12,000kgs |
$25.0 | King Air 350 Phenom 300 Gulfstream 100/150 Learjet 40/60 Embraer 120 Cessna Citation 560/XLS Pilatus PC-24 |
| 3 | Between 12,001kgs and 25,000kgs |
$108.0 | Cessna Citation 680/680A/700 Challenger 300/350 & 600/601/604/605 Falcon 50 & 2000 Gulfstream 200/280 Hawker 800/850/900/1000/4000 Legacy 600/650 Saab 340 Antonov 24 CRJ 100/200 ERJ 135/140/145 Falcon 900 |
| 4 | Between 25,001kgs and 50,000kgs |
$203.0 | Bombardier Global 5000/6000/8000 Embraer 170/175 Falcon 7X/8X Gulfstream 350/4/450 Gulfstream 5/500/550/600/650/700 CRJ 700/900/1000 Embraer Lineage 1000 |
| 5 | Between 50,001kgs and 200,000kgs |
$405.0 | Bombardier Global 7500 Airbus 220/318/319/320/321 Antonov 12 Boeing 727F Boeing 737-200 to 900 Embraer 190/195 Boeing 757-200/300 |
| 6 | Between 200,001kgs and 500,000kgs |
$675.0 | Airbus 330 Airbus 340-500/600 Airbus 350-800/900/1000 Boeing 747-200/300/400/400F/SP Boeing 767-200/300 Boeing 777-200/300 Boeing 787 |
| 7 | Above 500,000 kg | $945.0 | Airbus 380 |
If the aircraft that you wish to bring to Bermuda is not listed above, please calculate the minimum required insurance cover from the Aircraft Flight Manual certified MTOM or contact the BCAA for guidance.
Surveillance Activities
The BCAA conducts surveillance of visiting aircraft to ensure compliance with the applicable legislation through its ramp inspection programme, occurrence reporting and coordination with local and international aviation partners. The surveillance programme mainly comprises of ad-hoc ramp inspections and covers all civilian activity, including general aviation, scheduled commercial air transport, non-scheduled commercial air transport, cargo and dangerous goods (if applicable).
BCAA safety inspectors are empowered to perform a ramp inspection and search of aircraft in accordance with the ICAO Convention Article 16 (search of aircraft): “… the appropriate authorities of each of the contracting States shall have the right … to search aircraft of other contracting States …”.
If a ramp inspection or other surveillance measure identifies a case of non-compliance or suspected non-compliance of an aircraft or by the operator of such an aircraft or a serious safety issue with the operator of such an aircraft, the BCAA authorised inspector will immediately notify the operator and, if the issue warrants it, the State of the operator. Where the State of registry and the State of the operator are different, such notification must also be made to the State of registry.
In the case of notification to States, if the issue warrants it, the BCAA will engage in consultations with the State of the operator and the State of registry, as applicable, concerning the safety standards maintained by the operator.