Buying a Used Jet for the 5N- or ZS- Register

The route from offer to new registration

If a step ends without the paper in the last column, it is not finished.

Title and liens: the Cape Town Convention check

Check three layers of title:

1. The current registry. Get an official abstract and match owner, serial number and registration mark against the seller's papers.
2. The International Registry, set up under the Cape Town Convention and its Aircraft Protocol. A priority search shows registered interests, such as a lender's mortgage, against the airframe and against each engine by its own serial number.
3. Local claims. Ask for statements showing no unpaid airport, navigation or maintenance bills, which can get an aircraft detained in some countries.

Nigeria and South Africa are both parties to the Convention and the Protocol, as are Kenya, Ghana, Egypt and Angola, according to the UNIDROIT status list. If the seller's lender holds an IDERA, the deregistration and export authorisation recorded with the current registry, it must be released at closing, or the lender rather than you controls export.

Escrow: where the deposit and the price sit

No money goes to the seller, the seller's broker or to us before closing. Use an independent aviation escrow agent both sides accept, and write the release conditions down: the deposit returns if the inspection or title search fails the agreed standard, and the price is released only against a signed bill of sale, discharged liens and the registry filings.

Two African timing points. Naira-based buyers need time to source and document the dollar transfer, so start before the closing date is fixed. South African buyers pay offshore through an authorised dealer bank under exchange control rules, which also takes paperwork.

An independent pre-purchase inspection

The buyer chooses the shop, ideally one approved by the manufacturer for the type, and sends a representative. The LOI sets the scope and how findings are handled; commonly the seller corrects airworthiness items and the buyer negotiates on the rest. For an aircraft heading to Africa, look hardest at:

• Engine programme status and statements, which drive both hourly cost and resale.
• Corrosion, if the aircraft will be based in humid, coastal Lagos.
• Landing gear and brakes, if shorter or rougher runways are planned.
• Avionics and databases required on your routes.
• Continuous logbooks: a gap is grounds to renegotiate or walk away.

If the aircraft is already in South Africa, the inspection can often happen near Lanseria before any ferry flight. Type-specific checks sit on each model page, for example the Embraer Phenom 300E.

Export certificate of airworthiness and deregistration

The authority of the country the aircraft is leaving issues the export certificate of airworthiness; for a US-registered aircraft that is FAA Form 8130-4, issued after inspection. The aircraft is then removed from the old register, and that registry confirms it to the importing authority.

NCAA and SACAA both want this pair in the file. Under the Chicago Convention an aircraft cannot be validly registered in two states at once, so deregistration comes before the new marks.

Ferry flight to Lagos or Lanseria

The purchase agreement should say who flies the aircraft to Africa, on which registration and insurance, and where title passes. Two common patterns:

• Delivery before closing: the seller's crew or a contracted ferry crew flies it to an agreed point and title passes on arrival, so the seller carries the flight risk.
• Closing before delivery: title passes where the aircraft sits and it flies home on its new registration or a permit from the new authority, so the buyer needs insurance from closing day.

A Phenom 300E, with 1,865 nm of published range, needs several fuel stops from the United States; a super-midsize needs fewer. Each stop means permits, and the ferry crew must be typed. Where title passes also affects tax, so settle it early with your lawyer and customs broker.

Import and registration with NCAA and SACAA

Nigeria: 5N-

Registration follows the Nig.CARs 2023 rules through NCAA Form AC-AWS 001A: proof of ownership, an insurance certificate, airworthiness documents and the fee. The customs duty waiver for commercial airlines does not cover aircraft bought for private use, and VAT (7.5% standard rate) treatment should be confirmed with FIRS and Nigeria Customs Service. To fly privately the owner then needs a Permit for Non-Commercial Flights. The Nigeria import cost guide lays out the landed cost.

South Africa: ZS-

First-time registration of an imported aircraft uses SACAA form CAR47-A1. SARS assesses customs duty by tariff classification and import VAT at 15% of customs value, and can move to sell an aircraft if these are not settled in the permitted time. A resident to non-resident sale of an aircraft already in the country may avoid further duties, subject to conditions a tax specialist should confirm. Six-country detail is in our registration requirements guide.

Fraud checks before any money moves

Aircraft fraud aimed at first-time buyers follows a pattern: a real aircraft's photos, a price under the market and pressure to pay a deposit fast. These checks stop most of it:

• Confirm the seller is the registered owner, or holds the owner's written mandate, against the registry abstract.
• Match the serial number across listing, logbooks and registry, and ask for a live video walk-around showing the registration mark.
• Pay deposits only into the agreed escrow agent's account, never to a broker, an individual or another company.
• Confirm escrow bank details by phone on a number you found yourself; changed details sent by email are a warning.
• Treat a refused independent inspection, or a price far below comparable aircraft, as a reason to stop.
• Check the broker's company registration and get in writing whom they represent.