Operators who own a share of a fractional aircraft are to be given the same Cape Town Treaty protection as sole owners have had since March 2006. They are to be included in the International Registry of Mobile Assets (IRMA), which provides a single universal point of reference and record, and was set up under the treaty (which comprises the Cape Town Convention and the related Protocol on Aircraft Assets). To date, 16 countries have ratified the international asset-registration procedure (see box), with the most recent, Indonesia, eligible to use IRMA beginning in July.
Initially, the treaty included only sole owners of whole aircraft, helicopters or engines, but now IRMA permits the registration of multiple or partial shares in individual aircraft or engines. It also has introduced registration of sole owners in, say, a fleet of aircraft under arrangements called multiple-asset single transactions.
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