FOLLOWING THE REGISTRIES THE LESSORS ACTUALLY USE

EirTrade Aviation’s expanding facility at Ireland West Airport Knock has been authorised by the Bailiwick of Guernsey (2-REG), the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (VP-C) and the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (VP-B) for operations, transitions, parking and storage. Each authority provides oversight of aircraft on its register for compliance with the Overseas Territories Aviation Regulations, and each additionally imposes its own specific requirements.

The commercial logic is straightforward and is set out plainly by the company. Jim Maguinness, Quality Manager at EirTrade Aviation, said that having added A320neo (PW1100) and A330 aircraft to the company’s EASA Part-145 capabilities in 2025, the business was looking at how to further extend the line maintenance services offered to airline and lessor customers. He said it had observed that some leasing companies and operators were using Guernsey, Cayman and Bermuda for operations, transitions, parking and storage, which presented an opportunity to expand capabilities in support of those requirements.

That observation reflects a structural feature of aircraft leasing. Lessors frequently place aircraft on offshore registries — Bermuda, Cayman and Guernsey among the most widely used — because those jurisdictions offer registration arrangements suited to assets owned in one country, operated in another and financed in a third. An aircraft on the VP-B or VP-C register requires maintenance organisations approved by that authority, not merely by EASA. A facility holding EASA approval alone can therefore find itself unable to work on aircraft parked a short distance away, which is precisely the gap these three authorisations close.

WHAT THE APPROVALS REQUIRED

EirTrade’s Compliance Monitoring and Safety Management Team evaluated the work involved, which required the preparation of Maintenance Organisation Exposition supplements together with associated documents and forms, training for staff, and authorisations for certifying staff. Applications were then prepared and submitted, and following both desktop and on-site audits the company secured all three authorisations.

The results were immediate. Maguinness said the potential opportunities were realised at once, with two aircraft welcomed into parking and storage programmes — one on the 2-REG register and one on the Cayman register — and that both were new customers for EirTrade Aviation Maintenance Limited. For a facility positioning itself in the transition and storage market, the conversion of an approval into a customer within the same reporting cycle is the clearest available evidence that the demand was already present and the approval was the only obstacle.

COVERAGE AND AMBITION

The approvals held at Knock — EASA IE.145.092, 2-REG.145.587, CAY-AMO-061347 and BDA/AMO/913 — cover line maintenance, parking, storage and return-to-service for the A320 (CFM56), A320 (IAE V2500), A320neo (IAE PW1100) and A320neo (CFM LEAP-1A); the A330 series; the B737-600/700/800/900 NG (CFM56); and the B737-8, -9 and -8200 MAX (CFM LEAP-1B). The list spans both current-generation and legacy narrowbody types, which matters for a facility targeting transition and storage work, since the aircraft moving between operators or into storage are drawn from both populations.

Lee Carey, Chief Investment Officer at EirTrade Aviation, said the company’s ambitions for Knock were to create a centre of excellence catering for mature aircraft on the island of Ireland, providing strategic benefit to airline and lessor customers, and that the business was committed to further investment in capabilities, scope of services and capacity at the facility. EirTrade Aviation is a global aviation asset management and trading company headquartered in Dublin with facilities and representation across Europe, the United States and Asia, offering end-of-life asset management, engine and aircraft parts trading, aircraft storage and disassembly, engine disassembly, consignment programmes and technical storage and services. It is an Acorn Company.