On January 28, the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan held a meeting with the aviation authorities of Bermuda in the framework of the agreement on cooperation on supervision and control of flight safety, in accordance with article 83bis of the Chicago Convention. This agreement with Bermuda allows operators and leasing companies to decide where they want to register their aircraft. This aspect is of great importance in aircraft maintenance issues.

The meeting was attended by the leadership of the Aviation administration of Kazakhstan and the Department of civil aviation of Bermuda, as well as representatives of the airline "Air Astana", "Kazaviaspas", "Euro - Asia air", "Prime Aviation", "Airline Burundaiavia" and "Kaz Air Jet".

The meetings discussed issues of safety supervision, AAK activities, flight operations, airworthiness maintenance and maintenance of aircraft, procedures of the "operator's maintenance management Manual" (MSM), EASA SAFA inspections, and other important issues arising from the results of inspections and audits.

"Today international owners of aircraft may choose where the aircraft is registered specifying it to airline who take up the leasing contract. Many aircraft are registered outside the State of Kazakhstan for example Aruba (P4 Register) but the aircraft operates for a company here in the country. Similar activities take place in Russia with Bermudan registered aircraft" said AAК CEO Peter Griffiths.

Thomas Dunstan, Director General of the Bermuda Сivil Aviation Authority, stressed that Bermuda has the 10th largest aircraft registry among the 193 ICAO member countries.  These are more than 800 commercial aircraft operated under the 83bis Agreement. The delegation also presented the Bermuda security surveillance System and the feature of using the Article 83 bis agreement for Kazakh aviation companies.

Article 83 bis of the Chicago Convention provides that, by mutual agreement, the state in which the aircraft is registered may transfer some or all of its functions in certain areas of safety to the state in which the aircraft is operated. Under the provisions of this Article, other States (third parties) that have signed this amendment are required to recognize such agreements in respect of aircraft operating in their airspace. These provisions also address issues of airworthiness and the issuance of certificates for aviation personnel.

The main reason for using the 83 bis is to reduce the cost of safety supervision and, consequently, the cost of aircraft. Kazakhstan, a signatory to the agreement, performs some of the functions normally performed by the state of registration, which reduces aircraft downtime and travel costs for foreign inspectors. This is beneficial for the airlines themselves, since the aircraft is operated using local personnel.