Government Passes New Regulation on National Aircraft Registry

With the enactment of Decree 70/2023, the National Executive Branch introduced significant changes to the Argentine aeronautical policy, to promote the development of the commercial aviation industry and increase competition in the market. Accordingly, on February 7, 2024, Resolution 6/2024 of the Secretariat of Transport created the Commission for the Regulation of the Aeronautical Code, to draft a regulatory text for the code that incorporates the changes.

Accordingly, on July 19, 2024, the Executive Branch published Decree 639/2024 in the Official Gazette, approving the new regulation of the National Aircraft Registry. The Commission for the Regulation of the Aeronautical Code identified the need to streamline the registration system and give it more legal certainty. Additionally, it recognized that delays in the resolution of procedures made it imperative to convert the Registry into an electronic and digital system, as well as to establish issuing deadlines according to the industry’s needs in the region.

To modernize the regulation of the Registry and its functions, the new regulation repeals Decree 4907/1973, which had governed the provisions of Chapter IV of Title IV of the Aeronautical Code for over fifty years. The new regulation specially addresses the registration of civil aircraft, excluding those with military or security force mark identifications.

One of the main points considered in the new regulation is that registration procedures should have specific and exclusive requirements of their subject matter, avoiding the imposition of high standards of bureaucracy. At the same time, Decree 639/2024 focuses on emphasizing the promotion of a new model of respect for users' freedom of negotiation.

Following principles such as procedural economy, contractual freedom, security, and celerity, the new regulation establishes that the Registry, operating under the within the National Civil Aviation Administration, operates digitally and electronically.  Documents will only be issued on paper  upon express request. In this regard, it was deemed unnecessary for agents to travel abroad to register aircraft. Furthermore, the new Decree stresses the importance of adopting security measures to guarantee the preservation and traceability of all registrations and files.

Moreover, the regulation establishes a five-working-day period for Registry officials to issue decisions, starting the business day that follows the first day after filing the procedure’s documentation.

To ensure greater commercial freedom, Decree 639/2024 permits the free choice of the aircraft’s identifying mark. Applicants may propose any combination of letters or numbers, or alternatively reserve it for a maximum period of thirty calendar days. Additionally, the regulation provides that parties will have complete contractual freedom to enter into aeronautical contracts, in accordance with current public policy.

Decree 639/2024 will take effect sixty days after its publication in the Official Gazette. During this period, the Secretariat of Transport, as the enforcement authority of the Aeronautical Code, will have to update and align the necessary regulations to implement it.