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An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by
international convention International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of rules, norms, legal customs and standards that states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generally do, obey in their mutual relations. In in ...
to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and functions much like an automobile license plate or a ship registration. This code must also appear in its Certificate of Registration, issued by the relevant civil aviation authority (CAA). An aircraft can only have one registration, in one jurisdiction, though it is changeable over the life of the aircraft.


Legal provisions

In accordance with the
Convention on International Civil Aviation The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating international air trav ...
(also known as the Chicago Convention), all civil aircraft must be registered with a civil aviation authority (CAA) using procedures set by each country. Every country, even those not party to the Chicago Convention, has an NAA whose functions include the registration of
civil aircraft Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...
. An aircraft can only be registered once, in one jurisdiction, at a time. The NAA allocates a unique
alphanumeric Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are any collection of number characters and letters in a certain language. Sometimes such characters may be mistaken one for the other. Merriam-Webster suggests that the term "alphanumeric" may often ...
string to identify the aircraft, which also indicates the nationality (i.e., country of registration) of the aircraft, and provides a legal document called a Certificate of Registration, one of the documents which must be carried when the aircraft is in operation. The registration identifier must be displayed prominently on the aircraft. Most countries also require the registration identifier to be imprinted on a permanent fireproof plate mounted on the
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
in case of a post-fire/post-crash aircraft accident investigation. Most nations'
military aircraft A military aircraft is any Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing or rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary military of any type. Some military aircraft engage directly in aerial warfare, while others take on su ...
typically use tail codes and serial numbers. Military aircraft most often are not assigned civil registration codes. However, government-owned non-military civil aircraft (for example, aircraft of the United States Department of Homeland Security) are assigned civil registrations. Although each aircraft registration identifier is unique, some countries allow it to be re-used when the aircraft has been sold, destroyed or retired. For example, N3794N is assigned to a Mooney M20F. It had been previously assigned to a
Beechcraft Bonanza The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. The six-seater, single-engined aircraft is still produced by Beechcraft and has been in continuous productio ...
(specifically, the aircraft in which
Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...
was
killed Killing, Killings, or The Killing may refer to: Types of killing *-cide, a suffix that refers to types of killing (see List of types of killing), such as: ** Homicide, one human killing another *** Murder, unlawful killing of another human without ...
). An individual aircraft may be assigned different registrations during its existence. This can be because the aircraft changes ownership,
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
of registration, or in some cases for vanity reasons.


Choice of aircraft registry

Most often, aircraft are registered in the jurisdiction in which the carrier is resident or based, and may enjoy preferential rights or privileges as a
flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...
for international operations. Carriers in
emerging markets An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or we ...
may be required to register aircraft in an offshore jurisdiction where they are leased or purchased but financed by banks in major onshore financial centres. The financing institution may be reluctant to allow the aircraft to be registered in the carrier's home country (either because it does not have sufficient regulation governing
civil aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, which can be both private and commercial. Most countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and ...
, or because it feels the courts in that country would not cooperate fully if it needed to enforce any
security interest In finance, a security interest is a legal right granted by a debtor to a creditor over the debtor's property (usually referred to as the '' collateral'') which enables the creditor to have recourse to the property if the debtor defaults in m ...
over the aircraft), and the carrier is reluctant to have the aircraft registered in the financier's jurisdiction (often the United States or the United Kingdom) either because of personal or political reasons, or because they fear spurious lawsuits and potential arrest of the aircraft.


International standards

The first use of aircraft registrations was based on the radio callsigns allocated at the London International Radiotelegraphic Conference in 1913. The format was a single letter prefix followed by four other letters (like A-BCDE). The major nations operating aircraft at that time were allocated a single letter prefix. Smaller countries had to share a single letter prefix, but were allocated exclusive use of the first letter of the suffix. This was modified by agreement by the International Bureau at Berne and published on April 23, 1913. Although initial allocations were not specifically for aircraft but for any radio user, the International Air Navigation Convention held in Paris in 1919 (
Paris Convention of 1919 The Paris Convention of 1919 (formally, the Convention Relating to the Regulation of Aerial Navigation) was the first international convention to address the political difficulties and intricacies involved in international aerial navigation. The ...
) made allocations specifically for aircraft registrations, based on the 1913 callsign list. The agreement stipulated that the nationality marks were to be followed by a hyphen then a group of four letters that must include a vowel (and for the convention Y was considered to be a vowel). This system operated until the adoption of the revised system in 1928. The International Radiotelegraph Convention at Washington in 1927 revised the list of markings. These were adopted from 1928 and are the basis of the currently used registrations. The markings have been amended and added to over the years, and the allocations and standards have since 1947 been managed by the
International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...
(ICAO). Article 20 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention), signed in 1944, requires that all aircraft engaged in international air navigation bears its appropriate nationality and registration marks. Upon the completion of the necessary procedures, the aircraft receives its unique "registration", which must be displayed prominently on the aircraft. Annex 7 to the Chicago Convention describes the definitions, location, and measurement of nationality and registration marks. The aircraft registration is made up of a prefix selected from the country's callsign prefix allocated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (making the registration a quick way of determining the country of origin) and the registration suffix. Depending on the country of registration, this suffix is a numeric or alphanumeric code, and consists of one to five characters. A supplement to Annex 7 provides an updated list of approved nationality and common marks used by various countries.


Country-specific usage

While the Chicago convention sets out the country-specific prefixes used in registration marks, and makes provision for the ways they are used in international civil aviation and displayed on aircraft, individual countries also make further provision for their formats and the use of registration marks for intranational flight. When painted on the aircraft's fuselage, the prefix and suffix are usually separated by a dash (for example, YR-BMA). When entered in a
flight plan Flight plans are documents filed by a aviator, pilot or flight dispatcher with the local Air Navigation Service Provider (e.g., the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA in the United States) prior to departure which indicate the plane's planned ...
, the dash is omitted (for example, YRBMA). In some countries that use a number suffix rather than letters, like the United States (N), South Korea (HL), and Japan (JA), the prefix and suffix are connected without a dash. Aircraft flying privately usually use their registration as their radio
callsign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assi ...
, but many aircraft flying in commercial operations (especially charter, cargo, and airlines) use the
ICAO airline designator This is a list of airline codes. The table lists IATA's two-character airline designators, ICAO's three-character airline designators and the airline call signs (telephony designator). IATA airline designator IATA airline designators, somet ...
or a company callsign. Some countries will permit an aircraft that will not be flown into the airspace of another country to display the registration with the country prefix omitted - for example, gliders registered in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
commonly display only the three-letter unique mark, without the "VH-" national prefix. Some countries also operate a separate registry system, or use a separate group of unique marks, for gliders, ultralights, and/or other less-common types of aircraft. For example, Germany and Switzerland both use lettered suffixes (in the form D-xxxx and HB-xxx respectively) for most forms of flight-craft but numbers (D-nnnn and HB-nnn) for unpowered gliders. Many other nations register gliders in subgroups beginning with the letter G, such as Norway with LN-Gxx and New Zealand with ZK-Gxx.


United States

In the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the registration number is commonly referred to as an "N" number, because all aircraft registered there have a number starting with the letter N. An alphanumeric system is used because of the large numbers of aircraft registered in the United States. An ''N-number'' begins with a run of one or more numeric digits, may end with one or two alphabetic letters, may only consist of one to five characters in total, and must start with a digit other than zero. In addition, ''N-numbers'' may not contain the letters ''I'' or ''O'', due to their similarities with the numerals ''1'' and ''0''. Each alphabetic letter in the suffix can have one of 24 discrete values, while each numeric digit can be one of 10, except the first, which can take on only one of nine values. This yields a total of 915,399 possible registration numbers in the
namespace In computing, a namespace is a set of signs (''names'') that are used to identify and refer to objects of various kinds. A namespace ensures that all of a given set of objects have unique names so that they can be easily identified. Namespaces ...
, though certain combinations are reserved either for government use or for other special purposes. The following are the combinations that could be used: * N1 to N9: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) internal use only * N10 to N99: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) internal use only * N100 to N999 * N1000 to N9999 * N10000 to N99999 * N1A to N9Z * N10A to N99Z * N100A to N999Z * N1000A to N9999Z * N1AA to N9ZZ * N10AA to N99ZZ * N100AA to N999ZZ An older aircraft (registered before 31 December 1948) may have a second letter in its identifier, identifying the category of aircraft. This additional letter is not actually part of the aircraft identification (e.g. NC12345 is the same registration as N12345). Aircraft category letters have not been included on any registration numbers issued since 1 January 1949, but they still appear on antique aircraft for authenticity purposes. The categories were: *C = airline, commercial and private *G = glider *L = limited *R = restricted (such as cropdusters and racing aircraft) *S = state *X = experimental For example, N-X-211, the Ryan NYP aircraft flown by
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...
as the ''
Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that Charles Lindbergh flew on May 20–21, 1927, on the Charles Lindbergh#New York–Paris flight ...
'' was registered in the experimental category. There is a unique overlap in the United States with aircraft having a single number followed by two letters and radio call signs issued by the Federal Communications Commission to Amateur Radio operators holding the Amateur Extra class license. For example, N4YZ is, on the one hand, a Cessna 206 registered to a private individual in
Melba, Idaho Melba is a village in Canyon County, Idaho. The population was 513 at the time of the 2010 census, up from 439 in 2000. It is part of the Boise metropolitan area. History Melba was founded in 1912 by Clayton C. Todd, who named it after his d ...
, while, on the other hand, is also issued to an Amateur Radio operator in North Carolina. Since an aircraft registration number is also used as its call sign, this means that two unrelated radio stations can have the same call sign.


Decolonisation and independence

The impact of
decolonisation Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby Imperialism, imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholar ...
and independence on aircraft registration schemes has varied from place to place. Most countries, upon independence, have had a new allocation granted – in most cases this is from the new country's new ITU allocation, but neither is it uncommon for the new country to be allocated a subset of their former colonial power's allocation. For example, after partition in 1947,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
retained the VT designation it had received as part of the British Empire's Vx series allocation, while
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
adopted the AP designation from the newly allocated ITU callsigns APA-ASZ. When this happens it is usually the case that aircraft will be re-registered into the new series retaining as much of the suffix as is possible. For example, when in 1929 the British
Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...
s at the time established their own aircraft registers, marks were reallocated as follows: * Canada: G-Cxxx to CF-xxx, then expanded to C-Fxxx, C-Gxxx, and then C-Ixxx in 1974. * Australia: G-AUxx to VH-Uxx, then immediately expanded to all VH-xxx marks. As of 2022, the last three (3) characters will include numerals, e.g. VH-8AA. * New Zealand: G-NZxx to ZK-Zxx, then immediately expanded to all ZK-xxx marks. * Newfoundland: G-Cxxx (with Canada) to VO-xxx, then re-merged with the Canadian register in 1949 to CF-xxx. * South Africa: G-UAxx to ZU-Axx, then expanded to all ZU-xxx marks, then again to current ZS-xxx, ZT-Rxx, and ZU-xxx allocations. * Hong Kong: VR-Hxx to B-HAA - B-HZZ/B-KAA - B-KZZ/B-LAA - B-LZZ after 1997. Two oddities created by this reallocation process are the current formats used by the Special Administrative Regions of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
, both of which were returned to PRC control from Britain in
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
and Portugal in
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
respectively. Hong Kong's prefix of VR-H and Macau's of CS-M, both subdivisions of their colonial powers' allocations, were replaced by China's B- prefix without the registration mark being extended, leaving aircraft from both SARs with registration marks of only four characters, as opposed to the norm of five.


Registration prefixes and patterns by countries


See also

*
Aircraft lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, as well as to provide ...
*
Flight number In the aviation industry, a flight number or flight designator is a code for an airline service consisting of two-character airline designator and a 1 to 4 digit number. For example, QF9 is a Qantas Airways service from Perth, Australia to Londo ...
*
Belgian aircraft registration and serials Belgian owned and operated aircraft are identified by either aircraft registration, registration letters or serial numbers for military aircraft. Civil aircraft An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil airc ...
*
ITU prefix The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) allocates call sign prefixes for radio and television stations of all types. They also form the basis for, but may not exactly match, aircraft registration identifiers. These prefixes are agreed upo ...
*
United Kingdom aircraft registration United Kingdom aircraft registration is a register and means of identification for British owned and operated commercial and private aircraft, they are identified by aircraft registration, registration letters starting with the prefix G-. ...
*
United Kingdom military aircraft registration number United Kingdom military aircraft registration number, known as its serial number, or tail code is a specific aircraft registration scheme used to identify individual military aircraft belonging to the United Kingdom (UK). All UK military aircr ...
*
United States military aircraft serials In the United States, all military aircraft display a serial number to identify individual aircraft. These numbers are located on the aircraft tail, so they are sometimes referred to unofficially as "tail numbers". On the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spi ...
* United States military tail code *
List of aircraft registration prefixes This is a list of aircraft registration prefixes used by civil aircraft. Post-1928 allocations Current allocations The 1928 prefixes have been amended and added to over the years, with the current markings being: Retired allocations Some p ...
* List of aircraft by tail number


References


External links


Searchable worldwide registration databaseAruba Aircraft RegisterAustralian Aircraft RegisterAustrian Aircraft RegisterBelgian Aircraft Register

Brazilian Aircraft RegisterBritish Aircraft RegisterCanadian Aircraft RegisterCroatian Aircraft RegisterDanish Aircraft RegisterDutch Historic Aircraft RegistersFinnish Aircraft RegisterFrench Aircraft RegisterGuatemalan Aircraft RegisterGuernsey 2-REG Register

International Registry of Mobile Assets
pursuant to the
Cape Town Treaty The Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment, or Cape Town Treaty, is an international treaty intended to standardize transactions involving movable property. The treaty creates international standards for registrati ...

Irish Aircraft RegisterIsle of Man Aircraft RegisterLatvian Aircraft RegisterLebanese Aircraft Register

Maltese Aircraft RegistrationNew Zealand Aircraft RegisterNorwegian Aircraft RegisterSingapore Aircraft RegisterSouth African Aircraft Register

Swedish Aircraft Register

United States Aircraft RegistryArticle 20 of the Convention on International Civil AviationAnnex 7 to the Convention on International Civil AviationSupplement to Annex 7 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aircraft Registration Country codes Public records Aircraft markings Aircraft registration