Aircraft Registry lands major signing

Saturday 01 April 2017

Ministers promised there was some good news about to land for Jersey’s troubled Aircraft Registry, and it seems to have now arrived…from an unlikely destination.

A few weeks ago it emerged that only two aircraft had so far signed up - but it seems the third will make the money spent on setting it up - more than £850,000 - worthwhile.

Express can exclusively reveal than private meetings have been taking place this year between senior officials in the Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture Department - which is responsible for the Registry - and representatives of the United States Air Force.

A leaked memo from those meetings confirms that the USAF is planning to register a new Boeing 747-8 on the Jersey Registry, and that aircraft will be specially adapted to operate as Air Force One, whenever President Donald Trump is on board.

Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States.

The memo sets out why the approach from the USAF has been made:

“Contact was made at an industry trade show with a consultant working for the USAF, and they were particularly interested in the benefits of having an aircraft registered in Jersey, which is not part of the EU, or the UK, is stable politically, and has a well-developed legal and regulatory framework.

“They did mention that Mr Trump is a controversial figure, so they were quite keen on registering the aircraft somewhere in Europe that he was less likely to offend…which ruled out the UK and the EU.

“Clearly the Boeing 747-8 aircraft is too large to actually land in Jersey, but the USAF tell us they are open to just doing a ‘touch-down,’ in order to show local people the new plane.

“The global marketing benefits of having one of the best known aircraft in the world registered in Jersey are obvious, and may well kick-start the interest in the Registry that we are looking for."

Ministers declined to comment, saying they don't respond to leaked information - but a source close to the department was prepared to shed a little more detail. She commented:

"We may invite Mr Trump over for the signing of the relevant documentation, and ask him to mark it on his twitter account #oldjerseyrocks. The issue of paying GST on the aircraft did come up, but we jokingly suggested it actually stood for ‘God Save Trump’ and that seemed to make them happy.”

The aircraft will be registered as ZJ-FAKENEWS.