Member's Home Forums General Discussion International Flying - General Topics Renting an airplane in a foreign country

We often get calls from pilots who plan to fly on a commercial airline to visit a country on vacation. The question is whether there is a place at their destination where they can rent an aircraft so that they can make local flights.

Unfortunately, this is usually not easily done. Each country almost inevitably requires a pilot to have a license issued by that country to fly an aircraft with local registry. Therefore, to rent a private airplane in Mexico with a Mexican registry would require you to obtain a Mexican pilot license. To rent a US egistered aircraft (if one is available) would then require that the local civil aviation and customs official allow a foreign registered aircraft to be LEGALLY conducting "for revenue" flights in their territory and of course the aircraft would also be subject to the US FAR's regarding 100 hour inspection etc.

Each country has its own procedure for obtaining a local license from your US or Canadian issued license. These procedures range from somewhat reasonable to insanely complicated. Therefore, you should first determine if there is even an aircraft offered for rental and next how to get a local license. More often than not, pilots quickly conclude that the effort required does not warrant the effort.

Another option is to find a local air taxi/charter operation that has small aircraft like Cessna 182's for hire. Although they will have to be "flown" by their pilot, many of these operators will allow you to fly from the right seat and allow you some time to operate the controls. Aside from eliminating the need for all of the paperwork to get a local license, there is a huge benefit in having someone on board who is familiar with local procedures, frequencies, airports etc.

Therefore, if you have already found operators who were willing to allow you to operate their aircraft, leave us a post to let the other members know. Otherwise, give us a call and we will share any local information that we have on a particular airport in a foreign country.