The clarity with which rules and regulations are set out on the San Marino Aircraft Registry (SMAR, Booth V33) website has proved a boon to the business aviation industry, according to Philip Smith, flight operations inspector at the Civil Aviation and Maritime Navigation Authority of the Republic of San Marino and an SMAR representative.

SMAR exists to serve the "disaffected, who are not getting [the service] they deserve [from other registries]," he said. “I have been involved in regulation for 33 years and I know how owners and operators are frustrated with the regulatory [framework].”

Located in the northeast of the Italian peninsula in a territory 615 square kilometers in size, San Marino, founded in 301 AD, is the world's oldest sovereign state, uses the euro currency, and is not part of the European Union or EASA. In 2012, San Marino's CAA entered into an agreement with SMAR during the MEBAA show in Dubai. A year later, commercial air transport certification began.

Two companies with operations in the UAE—Luxaviation and aircraft management company Empire Aviation—operate aircraft outside the UAE under SMAR’s T7 designation.

Paras Dhamecha, executive director of Empire Aviation, told AIN that Empire had set up an office in San Marino to comply with a directive requiring a physical presence to conduct commercial operations. “They are very fair and friendly and very practical," he said. "Their standards are very high. They do act quickly when an operator needs pilot validation or similar."

Empire operates aircraft as far afield as Hong Kong, Oman, and Nigeria on its San Marino AOC, since aircraft do not have to be based in the principality, he said. “It’s about being able to put commercial resources behind it and getting those things done. There is a lot of flexibility for commercial operations outside the UAE.”