HUNGARY Law and Practice Contributed by: Szabolcs Mestyán, John Fenemore, Balázs Rokob and Nóra Kertai, Lakatos, Köves & Partners
and accessories installed or replaced after the date of the lease. 2.2.4 Risk of Title Annexation Whether an aircraft engine qualifies as a “component” or an ”accessory” of an aircraft, and thus whether ownership rights to the airframe (as principal asset) automatically extend to the engines, has not been tested before the Hungarian court. 2.2.5 Recognition of the Concepts of Trust/Trustee Hungary is not a party to the 1986 Hague Convention on Trusts and the concept of trust is not familiar in domestic law. The trust owner should be afforded the rights as the legal owner of the aircraft under Hungar - ian law. It is, however, untested as to whether a trust and the specific characteristics and duties of an own - er trustee would be recognised under Hungarian law. 2.3 Lease Registration 2.3.1 Notation of Owner’s/Lessor’s Interests on Aircraft Register The CAA requires all interested parties and the rel - evant legal relationships between them to be noted on the Hungarian Aircraft Register. The registration process is now carried out in an electronic way and all documents need to be sent to the CAA via the appropriate online platform. In particular, if the opera - tor is not the legal owner of the aircraft, the owner and the legal grounds on which the operator operates the aircraft in Hungary should be specified. 2.3.2 Registration If the Owner Is Different From the Operator An aircraft may be registered domestically in the name of the aircraft operator if the operator is not also the owner, or in the name of the owner if the owner is not also the operator. 2.3.3 Aircraft/Engine-Specific Registers A specific aircraft register exists in Hungary and is operated by the CAA. The Hungarian Aircraft Register is a notation register, that is (except for mortgages perfected upon registration), it has only declarative effect regarding the rights registered therein. The rec - ognition of such rights takes effect in accordance with the underlying transaction documents and the Hun - garian Aircraft Register only officially acknowledges
the existence of such rights. No specific register for engines exists 2.3.4 Registration of Leases With the Domestic Aircraft Registry The registration of leases is required, as the CAA needs to see all the interested parties and the legal relationships between them, and, in particular, the legal grounds on which the operator operates the aircraft in Hungary. As there is no separate register for leases, a lease will be noted in the course of the aircraft registration procedure in the case of a new aircraft. In the event of a title transfer, the new lease agreement or transferred novated agreement (as applicable) will be registered simultaneously with the new owner. Leases are not subject to consent from any govern - ment entity. 2.3.5 Requirements for a Lease to Be Valid and Registrable A lease must be submitted to the CAA in Hungarian, accompanied by an official Hungarian translation. The lease agreement under which the aircraft is operated is registered in the course of the process of registering the aircraft with the Hungarian Aircraft Register. In practice, notwithstanding the above, in order to avoid the need for obtaining a costly official transla - tion of the lease agreement, the CAA accepts a short form, bilingual or officially translated, executed by the relevant parties and submitted to the CAA together with the copy of the lease in its original language. This document (usually called a joint declaration) must contain the relevant references to be admitted. 2.3.6 Taxes/Duties Payable for Registering a Lease The operation of the aircraft must be registered, which may be subject to one of the following fees: • the registration of the aircraft exceeding a take- off mass of 5,700 kg (HUF166,000, approximately EUR415); or • the registration of the new owner (HUF64,000, approximately EUR160).
236 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook