How do you register an aircraft in Aruba?
How to register an aircraft in Aruba: eligibility, marks, timeline, mortgage, CAMO, license validation and deregistration, step by step.
Registering an aircraft in Aruba runs in a fixed order: confirm the owner and the airframe qualify, settle how the aircraft will be operated, reserve the marks, file the application with the title and airworthiness documents, complete the inspection, then meet the continuing obligations for as long as the aircraft stays on the register.
Who can hold an aircraft on the Registry of Aruba?Link to this section
Two conditions are checked together: who may hold the aircraft, and whether the airframe itself qualifies. Ownership reaches well beyond residents to companies formed in a listed group of states, so a local vehicle is not always needed. The mass floor and the practical age cut-off are what most often exclude an aircraft.
| Item | Published position |
|---|---|
| Who may register an aircraft | Aruba residents, Aruban companies, or companies of the EU, EEA, Switzerland, Canada, the UK, the USA or a listed state may register; no Aruban company needed.Regeling inschrijving en inschrijvingskenmerk (ministeriele regeling ter uitvoering van artikel 6 van de Luchtvaartverordening, AB 1991 no. GT 36), Centraal Wettenregister consolidated text of 4 October 2024, incorporating AB 1993 no. 47, AB 1997 nos. 9 and 10, AB 2014 no. 15, AB 2018 no. 28, AB 2019 no. 33, AB 2021 no. 142 and AB 2023 no. 53, published by the Government of Aruba via gobierno.aw (index page https://www.gobierno.aw/nl/0907-luchtvaart), articles 2 to 3d, read together with The Registry of Aruba, 'Registration Framework' (Documents / Registration / Registration Framework) on registration by domicile and with The Registry of Aruba, circular DOM 01 'Aruba Enacts New Aircraft Registration Legislation', Rev. 3 | 2022, Annex 1, for the annexed list of qualifying statescuatro.sim-cdn.nl · art. 2, eerste lidRetrieved 2026-08-29Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
| MTOW and aircraft age limits | Aruba takes aircraft from 5,700 kg and helicopters from 1,000 kg, and in practice will not register an airframe built before 1 January 1980.The Registry of Aruba, 'Registration of Aircraft' (Documents / Registration / Registration of Aircraft) for the weight thresholds, read together with AIC JETS Corp., 'P4 Aruba Aircraft Registration' (https://www.aicjetscorp.com/offshore/aruba-aircraft-registration), which reproduces the Department of Civil Aviation's aircraft acceptance policy for the build date and the exclusionstheregistryofaruba.comRetrieved 2026-09-01Corroborating source, not the register's own publicationOpen sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
Will the aircraft be flown privately or commercially?Link to this section
Decide this before filing. A privately flown aircraft sits under the local operating rules, while commercial work needs either a local air operator certificate or an agreement transferring oversight from the operator's own state. The registry is outside EASA and accepts type certification issued by several other authorities.
| Item | Published position |
|---|---|
| Private and AOC operations | Private aircraft fly under AUA-OPS 2; commercial work needs an Aruba AOC or an Article 83 bis agreement.The Registry of Aruba, 'Registration Framework' (Documents / Registration / Registration Framework)theregistryofaruba.comRetrieved 2026-08-27Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
| EASA status | Aruba is not an EASA member; the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) accepts FAA, Transport Canada, EASA and Brazilian type certificates.The Registry of Aruba, 'Type Certificate (TC)' (Documents / Airworthiness / Type Certificate)theregistryofaruba.comRetrieved 2026-08-27Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
What registration mark will the aircraft carry?Link to this section
Marks are allocated from the registry's national block, and an owner may choose a suffix rather than take the next in sequence. Reserving the mark early is worth doing, because it appears on the certificate, on the insurance and on the airworthiness paperwork, and changing it later means reissuing all of them.
| Item | Published position |
|---|---|
| Registration marks | Marks are P4 plus three to five letters or digits chosen by the owner, out of sequence, and the register lists them as free of charge.Regeling inschrijving en inschrijvingskenmerk (ministeriele regeling ter uitvoering van artikel 6 van de Luchtvaartverordening, AB 1991 no. GT 36), Centraal Wettenregister consolidated text of 4 October 2024, incorporating AB 1993 no. 47, AB 1997 nos. 9 and 10, AB 2014 no. 15, AB 2018 no. 28, AB 2019 no. 33, AB 2021 no. 142 and AB 2023 no. 53, published by the Government of Aruba via gobierno.aw (index page https://www.gobierno.aw/nl/0907-luchtvaart), articles 8 to 11b, read together with Aruba Department of Civil Aviation, AMC 052 'Aircraft Registration Marks' (Acceptable Means of Compliance), January 2024, published by The Registry of Aruba and The Registry of Aruba, 'FAQ | Aircraft Registration in Aruba' (Documents / Registration / FAQ), question 1cuatro.sim-cdn.nl · art. 8, eerste en tweede lidRetrieved 2026-08-29Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
How long does registration in Aruba take?Link to this section
The registry works to a short turnaround once the file is complete and the inspection is satisfactory, so the elapsed time an owner controls is the document-gathering rather than the processing. The fees fall due on the same schedule, with the statutory charge and the registry's own weight-based quote invoiced separately.
| Item | Published position |
|---|---|
| Time to registration | Registration takes 24 to 48 hours once documents are complete and the inspection is satisfactory.The Registry of Aruba, 'FAQ | Aircraft Registration in Aruba' (Documents / Registration / FAQ), question 2, 'What is the timeline for the aircraft to be registered in Aruba?'theregistryofaruba.comRetrieved 2026-08-27Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
| Registration fees | Aruba's statutory registration fee is Afl. 1,000 (about US$ 559) for a foreign-based aircraft; the registry's own service fees are quoted on weight.Retributie- en legesbesluit Directie Luchtvaart 2005 (Landsbesluit, houdende algemene maatregelen, van 17 oktober 2005, regelende de heffing en inning van retributies en leges door de Directie Luchtvaart, AB 2005 no. 65), Centraal Wettenregister consolidated text of 21 October 2013, published by the Government of Aruba via gobierno.aw (index page https://www.gobierno.aw/nl/0418-retributies-en-leges), articles 1 to 3, read together with The Registry of Aruba, 'FAQ | Aircraft Registration in Aruba' (Documents / Registration / FAQ), question 3, 'What is the cost to register an aircraft in Aruba?'cuatro.sim-cdn.nl · art. 2, onder FRetrieved 2026-08-29Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
Where is a financier's security recorded?Link to this section
A lender's security is not recorded on the aircraft register here. Aircraft mortgages sit in a separate court-supervised title register, and they rank behind certain statutory claims such as execution and salvage. Where the Cape Town Convention applies, the creditor also files an irrevocable deregistration and export request authorization.
| Item | Published position |
|---|---|
| Mortgages and charges | Aircraft mortgages sit in a separate court-supervised title register, ranking behind execution and salvage claims.Burgerlijk Wetboek van Aruba, Book 8 (Landsverordening bevattende de tekst van boek 8 voor een nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek van Aruba, AB 2001 no. 87), Title 15 'Het luchtvaartuig', Centraal Wettenregister consolidated text of 14 January 2014, published by the Government of Aruba via gobierno.aw (index page https://www.gobierno.aw/nl/1501-burgerlijk-wetboek)cuatro.sim-cdn.nl · Boek 8, art. 1302Retrieved 2026-08-27Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
| Cape Town Convention and IDERA | The Cape Town Convention applies to Aruba, and a filed IDERA obliges the DCA to deregister within five working days.UNIDROIT, 'States Parties' status chart for the Cape Town Convention (Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment), Netherlands entry and footnote 3www.unidroit.org · Convention status chart, footnote 3Retrieved 2026-08-27Effective 2010-09-01Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
Who carries the continuing airworthiness obligation here?Link to this section
Continuing airworthiness has to be managed for the whole time the aircraft is registered, and the responsibility here rests on the operator. Contracting an approved continuing airworthiness management organization is optional for a private aircraft rather than mandatory, which is a difference from several other registers.
| Item | Published position |
|---|---|
| CAMO requirements | Continuing airworthiness rests on the operator; contracting an approved CAMO is optional for private aircraft.The Registry of Aruba, 'Continuing Airworthiness (CAMO)' (Documents / Airworthiness / Continuing Airworthiness)theregistryofaruba.comRetrieved 2026-08-27Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
Are foreign pilot licenses accepted in Aruba?Link to this section
A pilot holding a license from another contracting state flies on a validation rather than on a local license. The validation is time-limited, is capped by the expiry of the underlying license, and is issued quickly, so crewing an aircraft here does not require the flight crew to relicense from scratch.
| Item | Published position |
|---|---|
| Pilot license validation | Aruba validates a license from any ICAO contracting state for up to two years, never beyond the foreign license's own expiry, and issues the validation within 24 hours.The Registry of Aruba, 'License Validations' (Documents / Personnel Licensing / License Validations)theregistryofaruba.comRetrieved 2026-09-01Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
Can oversight move to another state under Article 83bis?Link to this section
Article 83bis of the Chicago Convention lets the state of registry and the state of the operator agree to move specified oversight duties between them without changing the aircraft's nationality. It is the route by which an operator certificated elsewhere flies an aircraft on this register commercially.
| Item | Published position |
|---|---|
| Article 83bis agreements | Article 83 bis agreements let a foreign air operator certificate (AOC) holder operate an Aruban-registered aircraft commercially.The Registry of Aruba, 'ICAO 83bis Agreement' (Documents / Flight OPS / ICAO 83bis Agreement)theregistryofaruba.comRetrieved 2026-08-27Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
How does an aircraft leave the Aruba register?Link to this section
Leaving is a filing rather than a negotiation: the holder submits the registry's deregistration form, returns the paper certificate and has the marks removed from the airframe. Where a creditor has recorded a deregistration authorization, that creditor has its own route out on a short fixed timetable.
| Item | Published position |
|---|---|
| Deregistration process | The holder files form INS-4.069, returns the paper certificate and strips the marks; a recorded IDERA gives the creditor a five working day exit instead.Regeling inschrijving en inschrijvingskenmerk (ministeriele regeling ter uitvoering van artikel 6 van de Luchtvaartverordening, AB 1991 no. GT 36), Centraal Wettenregister consolidated text of 4 October 2024, incorporating AB 1993 no. 47, AB 1997 nos. 9 and 10, AB 2014 no. 15, AB 2018 no. 28, AB 2019 no. 33, AB 2021 no. 142 and AB 2023 no. 53, published by the Government of Aruba via gobierno.aw (index page https://www.gobierno.aw/nl/0907-luchtvaart), articles 7, 7a and 7b, read together with The Registry of Aruba, 'De-Registration' (Documents / Registration / De-Registration) (https://theregistryofaruba.com/documents/registration/de-registration/), The Registry of Aruba, 'IDERA' (https://theregistryofaruba.com/documents/registration/idera/) and 'Export Certificate of Airworthiness' (https://theregistryofaruba.com/documents/airworthiness/export-certificate-of-airworthiness/); the cost and elapsed time are estimates and rest on AIC JETS Corp. (https://www.aicjetscorp.com/offshore/aruba-aircraft-registration) and on VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne, 'Aruban registers' and 'Deregistration from the Aruba Register of Registered Aircraft', Guide to doing business in Aruba (doingbusinessdutchcaribbean.com) for the separate title registercuatro.sim-cdn.nl · art. 7, eerste lidRetrieved 2026-08-29Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
Who runs this process for an owner?Link to this section
Registration agents, aircraft managers and aviation lawyers file these applications routinely and will hold the airworthiness file together for an owner. Read the cost guide, check timing with the registration timeline checker and the papers with the documents checklist generator, then ask a specialist.
Every position above sits on the Aruba aircraft pillar beside the alternatives, including the Cayman Islands. This page is informational, not legal or tax advice.
Informational only, not legal, tax or financial advice.
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