First EJ- Irish Registered Aircraft
Photo above by Malcolm Nason
The first EJ- aircraft registered in Ireland, EJ-IOBN received its certificate of registration on Friday 12th October, almost 90 years to the day since EI-AAA was first registered in October 1928. EJ-IOBN is an Embraer ERJ 190-100 ECJ, (MSN 19000632), ex N730MM and is operated by Gainjet Ireland, a private aircraft charter operator and management company based at Shannon Airport.
The EJ- register was launched back in March 2015 with an update to the Irish Aviation Authority (Nationality And Registration Of Aircraft) Order that allowed the use of EJ- followed by four letters. VIP or Business Aircraft in excess of 5,700KG MTOW, used for private or public transport, can be registered on the “EJ” Register.
The “EJ” Registration format consists of EJ plus four letters, which allows for significant flexibility for personalised registrations. In addition, an assigned registration mark can be transferred to another aircraft owned by the same owner, if desired.
The “EJ” Register will allow Private Owners or Aircraft Operator’s Certificate (AOC) Holders to register aircraft. The register will support temporary withdrawal of an aircraft from an AOC for valid operational reasons, for example for private flying in the USA. For AOC Holders, an operator who maintains both AOC and Non-Commercial Complex (NCC) paperwork will be able to ‘flip’ an EJ-registered aircraft between commercial and private operation with a minimum of formalities.
According to international agreement, all civil aircraft must be registered with a National Aviation Authority. This was originally the Minister for Industry and Commerce in Ireland and is now the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).
Countries used radio call signs allocated at the London International Radiotelegraphic Conference in 1913 as the basis for allocating registrations to aircraft. In Ireland, all registrations are prefaced with EI or EJ, which is referred to as the nationality mark. These letters are followed by a unique combination of three letters e.g. AAA (or four letters in the case of EJ), referred to as the registration mark. The IAA does not assign registration marks beginning with Q, or distress signals such as PAN or SOS.
The EJ register was developed following the success of the Isle of Man M-register which has over 1000 aircraft registered since operations commenced and approximately 430 aircraft are currently on the register. The IAA established the new register with preferred marketing and support partner International Aviation Services Centre (IASC) Shannon. It will offer the benefits of a gold-standard onshore European Aviation Safety Agency jurisdiction and is designed for full compliance with current EASA regulations, including Part NCC.
Embraer ERJ 190-100 ECJ EJ-IOBN parked at Shannon this morning. Malcolm Nason.
About the Author
Mark Dwyer Mark is an airline pilot flying the Boeing 737 for a major European airline. In addition he is also a Type Rating Instructor, Type Rating Examiner and Base Training Captain on the B737. Outside of commercial flying Mark enjoys flying light aircraft from the smallest 3 Axis microlights up to heavier singles. He is also an instructor and EASA Examiner on single engines and a UK CAA Examiner. He flies the Chipmunk for the Irish Historic Flight Foundation (IHFF). Mark became the Chairman of the National Microlight Association of Ireland (NMAI) in 2013 and has overseen a massive growth in the organisation. In this role he has worked at local and national levels. In 2015, Mark won ‘Upcoming Aviation Professional Award’ at the Aviation Industry Awards sponsored by the IAA. Mark launched this website back in 2002 while always managing the website, he has also been Editor and Deputy Editor of FlyingInIreland Magazine from 2005 to 2015.
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