This 767 is leased from CIT Aerospace, in this case a US leasing company. Registering it in Ireland (through a purpose-built subsidiary) is a way to pay lower import taxes into the EU. Any EU carrier (eg Alitalia) may operate a EU-registered aircraft with no restriction. Alternative would have been to register the aircraft in the US but then the FAA would have had mandate to inspect Alitalia processes at any time (said differently, aircraft and operator and subcontractors must then follow FAR and JAR rules simultaneously). Not to mention the very very remote possibility of FAA grounding all US-registered specific aircraft type (remember the DC-10 grounding - at that time UTA had to store its N- aircraft but could continue to operate with its F-registered DC-10's). There is also the cost of having a new type certified in a particular country (not the case here as Alitalia already operates with I- registered 767-300ER's). As for AF, the first 747-100s were initially US-registered (while leased from Wilmington Trust) until the lease-purchase was completed 12 years later. Last, but obviously not relevant for countries like Italy, the registry used is of prime importance when a leasing company needs to repossess its assets from some far away places. Always get a legal clearance from the country of registry before sending the cowboys... Cordialement, Alexandre. AeroTransport Data Bank http://www.aerotransport.org David MR wrote: > > > In a message dated 9/6/03 7:20:55 AM Pacific Daylight Time, > > var8808@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes: > > > > > ALITALIA has introduce on Sept. 1st. 2003 its 13th B767/300ER in fleet > and= > > > =20 > > > registered EI-DBP 24J/184Y christened "Duca degli Abruzzi", painted > with=20 > > > full AZA livery, the internal lay-out (galley, seats) is the same of > the=20 > > > previous configuration used from Air Canad=E0. > > > New marketing strategies starting autumn 2003 and a 47% sales increase > in=20 > > > August these are the new marking news of thiese days for the italian > flag=20 > > > > > > >Alireza Alivandvafa > > Why the EI reg? It may have an Irish lessor, but Air France does not > attach > > N numbers to its ILFC planes > > > Air France is a different airline from a different country than Alitaliia. > Different rules apply. > Up until just the past few years, foreign aircraft leased by USA airlines > needed to be re-registered in the USA. > David R > http://home.attbi.com/~damiross > http://home.attbi.com/~damiross/books.html --