The Bermuda Department of Civil Aviation (BDCA) plans to set up regional offices in countries such as Russia and Singapore in order to enlist the necessary technical staff to oversee the industry.

According to Premier Ewart Brown, the news comes after a period of “overwhelming growth and success” for the department, which administers aviation regulations.

In a statement released on Sunday, he said: “In 2005 there were 198 aircraft on the register. In 2006 we had 258 aircraft on the register, an increase of 30 percent year over year. And as of 2007, there are 291 aircraft on the register. The BDCA anticipated this growth and, five years ago, began the design and development of the Aircraft Information and Records System (AIRS) — a web database system, which went live January this year. The system is meeting its objectives of reducing paperwork, and adding efficiency to the registry and airworthiness processes.

“However, while we are tremendously pleased with the current growth of our aircraft registry, with this remarkable growth, comes an increased work load. Obtaining the necessary qualified and experienced technical staff to oversee the aircraft is becoming increasingly difficult.

“Aviation is a global competitive business and we need to be as efficient and effective as possible to maintain our competitive edge. As such, steps are now underway to implement regional offices in various locations around the world. We anticipate that the regional offices will allow BDCA representatives to be more appropriately positioned geographically and be more responsive to clients in those regions.”

Dr. Brown said that it is anticipated that the first regional office will be in Russia and would handle the growing number of western built aircraft on the Bermuda register being operated by Russian airlines. Other areas being considered for regional offices are the UK, US and Singapore.

Dr. Brown also highlighted the BDCA’s recent certification by the international regulatory agency, Air Safety Support International (ASSI). ASSI, a subsidiary of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), has declared that the Bermuda Department has successfully met all the safety, readiness and proficiency standards required of an Overseas Territory civil aviation entity.