The aviation industry was hit hard during the economic crisis. But the Isle of Man has carved out a successful niche as a registry for corporate and private aircraft, says Appleby Aviation's Brian Johnson

Despite the challenging global economic conditions, the 12th annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition was one of the strongest yet, attracting some 12,638 attendees from 99 countries.

More than 2,280 booth spaces at the Geneva Palexpo centre displayed the wares of various providers to the business aviation industry and more than 60 aircraft were parked up on the shows' static display area.

There certainly was a buzz of activity with Cessna announcing the launch of its new mid-size Citation Longitude, priced at a cool $25.99m (£16.6m), Hawker Beechcraft announcing orders for some 11 aircraft and Bombardier launching the Learjet 70 and 75 to replace the 40 and 45 respectively. But despite the headlines, one cannot hide the impact that the economic crisis has had on this once thriving industry.

What is clear, however, is the one characteristic that has allowed key industry players to continue to grow in these challenging times: a customer-focused service.

Safety considerations

I have been lucky enough to be involved in the aviation industry for 35 years at every level – from my early days as a pilot flying corporate jets, to regulating flight operations in jurisdictions throughout the world.

What I have consistently seen is that the main concerns for corporate aircraft owners are safety, security, and confidentiality.

In the past, the majority of owners simply registered their aircraft in their home country. The success of the Isle of Man Aircraft Registry (IOMAR) has heralded a viable alternative, establishing itself as a global offshore registry location with an impressive reputation for quality and service.

As the Isle of Man's first Director of Civil Aviation, I was fortunate to be part of the team who established the aircraft register. Starting with a 'blank sheet of paper', we could establish high regulatory standards, take all of the benefits that come with an offshore jurisdiction, and combine them with a working knowledge of what is important to businesses. All in order to develop a register which truly meets the needs of successful global businesses.

Since the Registry's launch in May 2007, the Isle of Man has already registered nearly 500 private and corporate aircraft, far surpassing the growth of its competitor jurisdictions. What really makes the Isle of Man unique is its focus on businesses who are at the heart of its operation.

International corporations are amazed by the friendly and efficient staff they deal with, a welcome change to the bureaucracies of some long established registers. While other jurisdictions offered an inflexible processing time of six to eight weeks for every aircraft, we were asking our clients 'When would you like it registered by?'

The Isle of Man Registry understands that corporate jets are a crucial business tool to a successful international company and it is vital that they are registered and in operation as quickly as possible. Once operational, companies also need to be able to rely on the efficient support of their regulator.

With the Isle of Man, corporations enjoy the peace of mind that their aircraft is registered in an extremely well-regulated and well-operated jurisdiction which has been awarded Standard & Poor's AA+ credit rating. Given that the Isle of Man operates in the European time zone and has the most competitive scheme of charges of any offshore register, it is easy to see why it continues to register around 120 additional aircraft a year despite the current economic climate.

The trademark 'M'

Already the eighth largest business aircraft registry in the world and the only dedicated corporate aircraft registry in Europe, the island's nationality prefix 'M' has become a trademark symbol associated with safety, service and efficiency, visible on each of the aircraft flying around the globe. Most nationality prefixes allocated to each country that has an aircraft register have been in place for many years, but the story behind the Island's M registration is still fairly new.

The island could operate only an international aircraft register with the support of the UK Government, which is a contracting state to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The Isle of Man was the ninth register, and the first Crown Dependency, supported by the UK. Among the others are the overseas territories of the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Falkland Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

When aviation was in its formative years at the beginning of the last century, the major countries chose their nationality prefixes such as G for Great Britain, F for France, I for Italy, and so on.

Spain chose M, I believe, because of their capital city Madrid. But in 1930, it decided to split its register in two – into a civil and a military register – and chose Espania Civil (EC) as their prefix.

M was allocated to Great Britain when the ICAO was formed in 1944 and remained unused until the IOMAR was established.

M-registered aircraft are now a common sight at all major international airports, with presidents, royalty, international business leaders, sporting and media stars being regular passengers.

Unique relationship

There is a unique working partnership on the Isle of Man between the government and the private sector.

As a result, the island has quickly become a centre of expertise in offshore aviation. I am pleased to have played a key role in the establishment of the IOMAR and could not be more proud of the success that it has achieved.

In April, Appleby opened its Shanghai office which, together with our Hong Kong office, is ideally situated to capitalise on the predicted growth of the Chinese corporate aircraft industry as their business leaders expand their international interests. One major manufacturer of business jets forecasts 960 new business jets to be sold in China over the next nine years. Where does this leave the future of business aviation?

Through the high-quality services offered and its competitive charging structure, the IOMAR continues to grow and engage with an increasing number of global aviation contacts.

The future long-term business aircraft market forecast, by one of the industry's leading manufacturers, shows continuing expansion led by the high growth economies of Brazil, Russia and CIS, India and China.

The market drivers include wealth creation, increasing penetration in high growth economies, globalisation of trade, replacement demand and the ease of market accessibility a business jet provides.

According to Forbes, the number of billionaires in Russia and the CIS amounted to 116 in 2010, up 61% from 72 in 2009. A total of 50 billionaires now live in Moscow, making it the city with the second-highest billionaire population after New York.

The manufacturer's optimism is reflected in their 20-year industry delivery forecast, which predicts 24,000 new business jet deliveries worth $626bn of revenue – and 10,000 deliveries are anticipated in the period from 2011 to 2020.

Despite short-term challenges that are likely to occur along the way, Appleby Aviation remains confident of the strong long-term potential for the business aircraft industry. With its offshore