The owner of an aircraft can apply for registration for an aircraft that fulfils the registration preconditions set out in the Aviation Act. An aircraft must be registered to be used in aviation.
An aircraft can be registered in Finland, if the aircraft owner’s, possessor’s or operator’s residence or, for legal persons, their domicile is in a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA).
If the place of residence or domicile is located in another EEA country than Finland, registration also requires that the aircraft’s principal place of departure must be in Finland. The owner, possessor or operator of an aircraft must have a competent representative in Finland.
The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom may, however, decide to register an aircraft in Finland for particular reasons, provided that the aircraft has sufficient operational connections with Finland and the aircraft owner, possessor or operator has a competent representative in Finland.
An aircraft entered in another state’s aircraft register may not be registered in Finland.
An annual fee is charged for maintaining the aircraft registration. The fee is charged on the first day of the invoicing year from the owner or operator of the aircraft listed in the register at the time in question. The fee will also be charged for an aircraft removed from the register during the calendar year, if the aircraft was registered in the on the first day of the calendar year.
According to the Aviation Act, the aircraft owner must notify Traficom of any changes in the registration information within 14 days of the change. If an aircraft is sold and the new owner fails to meet is notification obligation, the seller (previous owner) can discharge its obligations as the owner by reporting a change in the right of ownership. The seller’s responsibilities as the owner of the aircraft will end on the day when then notification is recorded as received by Traficom’s registry.