Newsletter
ES
Sign in

Aviation glossary

Aircraft register

Also: civil aircraft register, aircraft registry, national register

Registration and rules

Official record kept by each state of the aircraft entered on it, listing their registration, type, serial number and owner.

What it is

The Chicago Convention provides that an aircraft has the nationality of the state in which it is registered and cannot be validly registered in more than one state at a time. Each country therefore keeps a register, usually run by its civil aviation authority, recording the registration mark, manufacturer, model, serial number, owner and often the operator.

Registration is the first step towards obtaining a certificate of airworthiness and flying legally. Several registers can be searched online, including those of the FAA in the United States and the UK Civil Aviation Authority, and they are the primary source for confirming an aircraft's identity: they show which serial number corresponds to each registration at a given moment.

On Vuelopedia

The verification seal on an aircraft record shows whether the aircraft's identity has been checked against the official aircraft register.

Related terms

RegistrationCombination of letters and numbers that identifies an aircraft with the state in which it is registered and must be painted on its exterior. Nationality prefixOpening letters or digits of a registration that show the country in which an aircraft is registered, such as G for the United Kingdom or N for the United States. Chicago ConventionInternational treaty signed in 1944 that sets out the principles of international civil aviation and gave rise to ICAO. Civil aviation authorityPublic body that regulates and oversees a country's civil aviation: it registers aircraft, issues licences and certifies airlines and airports. DeregistrationCancellation of an aircraft's entry on a state's register, for example because it is exported to another country, withdrawn from use or scrapped.
Whole glossary

Cite

To cite this page in academic work, an article or Wikipedia, choose the style and copy the reference. The access date is today.

This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Aircraft register. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-register

MLA

“Aircraft register.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-register. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Aircraft register.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-register.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Aircraft register. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-register (Accessed: 17 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_aircraft_register,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Aircraft register}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-register},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-register}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-17},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-17}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-register |title=Aircraft register |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-17 |language=en}}

Explore the encyclopedia

Homethe record of every aircraftAirlinesdocumented fleetsModelsfrom the Airbus A220 to the Boeing 747Compareup to three aircraft, side by sideManufacturerswho builds the aircraft, and their enginesIVCA Rankingair quality, from 0 to 100Newsthe latest from the recordsOn this dayaviation, day by dayVideosone aviation story a day, on videoAirportsthe world's leading onesAccidentswhat every accident changedTimelinethe whole century, 1903 to todayPeoplewho made all of this possibleOn Screenwhen the airliner was the plotTriviaa daily aviation challengeMemoriesa name in an aircraft's historyPresspress releases and Vuelopedia in the mediaYour profilesign in or create your accountAboutwhat Vuelopedia is and who makes it