Cape Town Convention and IDERA by registry
What the Cape Town Convention gives an aircraft financier, what an IDERA does, and how each register records security and handles deregistration.
A financier lending against an aircraft is buying a remedy, not an asset. The Cape Town Convention exists to make that remedy work across borders, and each state of registry applies it on its own terms. Which register an aircraft sits on is therefore partly the lender's decision.
What does the Cape Town Convention give a lender?Link to this section
An international register of interests, a ranking rule that does not depend on local law, and a set of remedies a creditor can use when a borrower defaults. What varies is which declarations each state has made, and those change what a lender can rely on.
| Item | Malta | The Isle of Man | The Cayman Islands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Town Convention and IDERA | The Cape Town Convention has force of law in Malta: an irrevocable de-registration and export request authorization (IDERA) is recorded within two working days and honored within five.Aircraft Registration Act (Cap. 503, Laws of Malta), consolidated text in force as at 01/01/2024, legislation.mt (Office of the State Advocate)legislation.mt · art. 46(2)Retrieved 2026-08-12Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. | The Cape Town Convention has applied to the Isle of Man since 1 January 2018; recording an irrevocable de-registration and export request authorization (IDERA) costs £235 and takes one working day.Isle of Man Aircraft Registry, 'Cape Town Convention and IDERA'www.iomaircraftregistry.comRetrieved 2026-08-29Effective 2018-01-01Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. | The Cape Town Convention has applied to the Cayman Islands since 1 November 2015; irrevocable de-registration and export request authorization (IDERA) filings go to the registry, notarized, for CI$250.Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands, Mortgaging of Aircraft (page last modified 2021-04-12)www.caacayman.comRetrieved 2026-08-29Effective 2015-11-01Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
What is an IDERA for?Link to this section
It authorizes the creditor to procure deregistration and export of the aircraft without needing the owner's cooperation at the moment it matters. An aircraft bought outright has no creditor, so it usually has no IDERA, and the register's own position says whether one is required regardless.
| Item | Guernsey | San Marino | Bermuda |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Town Convention and IDERA | The Cape Town Convention has applied to Guernsey since 1 November 2015, with Alternative A and a 60 day waiting period; registering an IDERA costs £140.UNIDROIT, Cape Town Convention states parties, declarations deposited by the United Kingdom, including the Article 52 extension to the Island of Guernseywww.unidroit.org · Declarations of the United Kingdom, Article 52Retrieved 2026-09-06Effective 2015-11-01Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. | Cape Town has applied since 1 January 2015, with self-help remedies, Alternative A insolvency and IDERA deregistration in five working days.San Marino Aircraft Registry, 'Cape Town Convention' (with its 'IDERA Regulation' page and Mortgage FAQ), corroborated by UNIDROIT as treaty depositary, 'Declarations lodged by San Marino under the Cape Town Convention'www.smar.aeroRetrieved 2026-08-29Effective 2015-01-01Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. | The Cape Town Convention has been Bermuda law since 1 January 2018; a recorded IDERA controls deregistration and costs $300.Bermuda International Interests in Mobile Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Act 2016 (2016 : 38), consolidated text including Schedule 3 (the declarations lodged by the United Kingdom in respect of Bermuda), Bermuda Laws Online, Government of Bermudawww.bermudalaws.bm · s. 3Retrieved 2026-08-27Effective 2018-01-01Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
How does the register record the security itself?Link to this section
Separately from the international register, and on its own terms. Some states maintain a register of aircraft mortgages and charges; others rely on the international system alone. A lender will want to know which, because it decides where a search has to be run before completion.
| Item | Malta | The Isle of Man | The Cayman Islands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortgages and charges | Mortgage priority runs by date and time of recording, and registered mortgages survive the mortgagor's insolvency.Aircraft Registration Act (Cap. 503, Laws of Malta), consolidated text in force as at 01/01/2024, legislation.mt (Office of the State Advocate)legislation.mt · art. 29(1)Retrieved 2026-08-12Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. | Registering a mortgage costs £500 and mortgages rank in the order they are entered; a new Order, SD 2026/0011, takes over on 1 October 2026.Civil Aviation (Mortgaging of Aircraft) Order 2026 (Statutory Document No. 2026/0011), Isle of Man Government aviation legislation library (with the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry's 'Mortgage Services', 'New Legislation - Mortgage Services' and Registry Publication 10)www.gov.im · art. 2Retrieved 2026-08-29Effective 2026-10-01Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. | Mortgage registration costs CI$1,250 to CI$5,000 by sum secured, and the aircraft must be on the Cayman register first.The Air Navigation (Fees) Regulations, 2010 (Cayman Islands), made under the Air Navigation (Overseas Territories) Order 2007, S.I. 2007 No. 3468, Supplement No. 17 published with Gazette No. 22 dated 25 October 2010, CAACI's published copywww.caacayman.com · reg. 9(2)Retrieved 2026-09-01Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
How quickly can an aircraft actually be deregistered?Link to this section
The register's published deregistration process answers it. Lenders value a register that acts on a remedy promptly over one that takes months, and price the difference.
| Item | Malta | The Isle of Man | The Cayman Islands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deregistration process | Deregistration costs €50 and needs every mortgagee and IDERA holder to consent; an IDERA holder's own request must be met within five working days.Aircraft Registration Act (Cap. 503, Laws of Malta), consolidated text in force as at 01/01/2024, legislation.mt (Office of the State Advocate)legislation.mt · art. 13(1)(f)Retrieved 2026-08-29Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. | Deregistration costs £355, needs two working days' notice and Form 11, plus every mortgagee's consent if a mortgage is registered; an export Certificate of Airworthiness is £585.Isle of Man Aircraft Registry, 'Deregistration' (with articles 11 to 13 of the Civil Aviation (Aircraft Registration and Marking) Order 2022, the Civil Aviation (Charges) Scheme 2026 and the published Service Delivery Times)www.iomaircraftregistry.comRetrieved 2026-08-29Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. | Deregistration costs CI$500 plus actual costs, the account with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI) must be settled first, and every registered mortgagee or the holder of an irrevocable de-registration and export request authorization (IDERA) has to consent.Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands, Deregistration Process (page last modified 2023-10-02)www.caacayman.comRetrieved 2026-08-29Open sourceInformational only, not legal, tax or financial advice. Contact a qualified professional for current information. |
Where does this decision sit among the others?Link to this section
It is one of the decisions in which aircraft registries allow commercial operation; the other is commercial operation by register. Read who can own an aircraft, compare on the aircraft comparison engine, then ask a specialist.
Informational only, not legal, tax or financial advice.
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