CAAP – Civil aviation association of the philippines updates their regulation.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines recently issued several significant updates to the Civil Aviation Regulations in terms of aircraft registration and air operators. In particular, these updated regulations now implement the almost 90-year old Public Service Act of the Philippines which was amended in 2022 allowing greater ownership participation and protection for foreign owners of aircraft leased to Philippine air operators and further liberalized Philippine skies through the lifting of foreign ownership restrictions in air operators.

Among the significant updates include:

1. Updating the official form of the aircraft’s certificate of registration, this time following more of a global standard and expressly recognizing not just the aircraft operator, but also the aircraft owner. Particularly, there is now a specific portion in the certificate of registration where the identity of the aircraft owner is spelled out. The last time the form of the certificate of registration was amended was more than a decade ago.

2. Allowing an aircraft’s certificate of registration to be issued to foreign owned Philippine air operators.

3. Expressly implementing the amended Public Service Act which now allows up to 100% foreign ownership of Philippine air operators (including those for aerial works and drones).

4. The bases for registering an aircraft are no longer limited to either being owned or being operated (e.g. through lease). In case neither applies, there is also now an option to have an aircraft registered so long as properly and legally justified and approved by the CAA.

Other updates:

The Civil Aviation Authority also issued the following important guidelines:

1. The guidelines for competency-based trainings for handling Dangerous Goods and the transport of portable electronic devices powered by Li-Batt

2. The guidelines for the issuance of the certificate of airworthiness using the 5-Phase certification process

Lastly, the Civil Aviation Authority issued an official list of post-holders (i.e., official positions) per aviation organization (i.e., 7 positions for air operators, 4 positions for MROs, and 6 positions for flying schools). The authority also issued a reminder that any vacancy in any post-holder position should be filled-up immediately with a permanent replacement. In case a replacement cannot be done, the aviation organization should reported to the authority and fill such role with an interim post-holder within 30 days.

These updates are quite extensive and applies to aircraft owners, air operators, MROs, and flying schools. Please feel free to reach out should you have any aircraft transaction in the Philippines and we would be happy to share our insights and how to ensure regulatory compliance.

Download them here https://thcounsels.ph/product/caap-cofr/?preview_id=7495&preview_nonce=af2ed03b61&_thumbnail_id=7496&preview=true