ZD: The registry that rocks

opinion

by Alasdair Whyte

May 27, 2026

Gibraltar has launched its first aircraft registry.

No one ever looks back on their life and wishes they had ever spent more time in immigration queues. But some borders are better than others.

Taxis from Spain are not allowed to cross into Gibraltar from Spain, so you need to walk through the checkpoint. But apart from that, there is no hassle. Spanish border control looks at your passport briefly. His Majesty’s Customs barely glance at the cover. Once through, you simply walk across the Gibraltar Airport’s runway (provided there are no aircraft movements). It is a short walk into the city (population 40,000).

Gibraltar is a six-kilometre square British Overseas Territory at the bottom of Spain. It is dominated by the Rock – an impressive 426m limestone mountain (the Greeks and Roman called it one of the Pillars of Hercules).

Just nine miles across the Mediterranean from Morocco, the UK seized it in 1705 as part of the War of Succession (not the TV series loosely based on the Murdoch family). Spain granted it to Britain “in perpetuity” in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Since then, it has regretted the decision and pretended to not understand what perpetuity means.

It failed to take it back during the bloody Great Siege of 1779-1783 – even with the help of the French. During the Second World War, Gibraltar allowed the Allies to control access to the Mediterranean. In referenda in 1967 and 2002, the population voted overwhelmingly to stay part of Britain.

Last week another historic event happened: the launch of the Gibraltar Aircraft Registry.

“The Rock has a well-established financial services centre, which is breaking new ground in respect of financial products involving blockchain,” said Christian Santos, MP and minister of commercial aviation speaking at the launch. “Gibraltar has a well-established and internationally recognised maritime registry, and we felt it was high time for an aircraft register.”

Brought to you by the people behind The Registry of Aruba and the San Marino Aircraft Registry, it promises to be the “Registry that Rocks”. Lindy Castillo will head the registry, moving from the San Marino Aircraft Registry she helped launch with her husband David Colindres. Her team will market and provide administration for ZD-prefix aircraft.

The Gibraltar Civil Aviation Authority will be responsible for oversight. As with other UK offshore territories and Crown Dependencies, the UK’s Department of Transport will oversee it and represent it at ICAO.

Chris Purkiss is the director general of the Gibraltar Civil Aviation Authority. Purkiss, a former Royal Air Force Tornado navigator (who served in the first Gulf War) moved to the Rock in 2005 as station commander for RAF Gibraltar. He stayed and later became director of civil aviation.

“I have been doing the role of aviation regulator since 2009,” said Purkiss at the launch. “If you’d had me up here speaking about five years ago, I would have joked that you’ve got 100% of the civil aviation department on stage.” He now has an impressive team of former pilots and regulators.

The Gibraltar Aircraft Registry is joining a crowded market. If an owner decides against a national registry (like the FAA registry in Oklahoma), there are already enough options to adapt the Beach Boy’s song Kokomo: “Aruba, Cayman, I wanna take you to Guernsey, Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama. San Marino, Isle of Man, Malta and Gibraltar.”

The Colindres family knows how to run an aircraft registry. Gibraltar is hoping that its stable English-speaking government and common law system makes it very business aviation-friendly and will attract customers.

The registry can benefit from Aviation Registry Group’s global network of inspectors, but it will be interesting to see what niche the ZD registry can fill. The Isle of Man shook up the market when it launched its private registry in 2007, but Jersey, a self-governing Crown Dependency island close to France, gave up.

“Anyone can register planes. We are not in the business of registering planes we are in the business of building relationships,” says Sir Jorge Colindres, founder of Aviation Registry Group. “We don’t think outside the box.”

The first private aircraft are expected to be registered in July. Gibraltar is hoping to be able to offer Air Operator Certificates by 2028. San Marino, its sister registry, has been extremely successful at this. ARG also holds a Memorandum of Understanding with the Republic of Kazakhstan to support the development of its aircraft registry, which is worth watching.

If you are interested in history, Gibraltar is definitely worth a visit and it is likely that its registry will also attract aircraft. If you are coming from Spain, the good news is that the border should also be gone in a few months.