Aircraft registry may be scrapped

Assistant Economic Development Minister Murray Norton, who currently holds political responsibility for the project, has temporarily frozen further spending on it.

He has admitted that if plans to salvage it are unsuccessful the costs may have to be written off and the scheme axed.

When the registry was launched in 2015, it was hoped that it would generate thousands in fees and encourage wealthy aircraft owners to do business and spend money in the Island.

But, 16 months on, just a couple of aircraft, a Cessna private jet and a helicopter, have been signed up and just £11,789 in registration fees has been collected.

The poor performance of the registry has led to Deputy Norton blocking further spending until alternative plans are in place to boost the number of registered aircraft.

Guernsey’s registry, launched in December 2013, has to date attracted 160 aircraft while a similar enterprise in the Isle of Man, launched several years earlier than Jersey’s, has almost 1,000 registered planes.

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