Why does JetBlue have aircraft registered in Germany?

Question

I recently saw a JetBlue A321 with a German flag on its tail and was wondering why it would be registered in Germany if it was a US-based carrier. I was thinking maybe it had something to do with Airbus but I wasn't 100% sure.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Image source: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6771365770770309120/

D-AUAA to D-AZZZ are test and delivery registrations. The registration is now N2105J. — mins, Apr 01 '21 at 22:49

score 90 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 02 '21 at 00:01

90

I am the pilot who delivered this aircraft on Friday.

The German registration remains on the aircraft up until the time we (JetBlue) purchase the aircraft. Prior to transfer of title, we perform a series of ground tests and flight checks. This is all accomplished while Airbus still owns the aircraft. Once any discrepancies are corrected, and we accept the aircraft, we buy it, the ownership changes and the temporary (German) registration is removed. This is typically the day prior to ferrying it over to the US.

As for the Hamburg/Toulouse question- TLS does not produce A321 aircraft, so all of our JetBlue deliveries come from either Hamburg or Mobile, AL.

edited Mar 02 '21 at 00:01

DeltaLima

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answered Mar 01 '21 at 17:34

Mark Libretto

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Now *that* is what we can say is an authoritative answer! Thanks for resolving this question, and welcome to Av.SE! Please come back often; we get quite a few "why does ___ work this way on an A32X" questions. – Ralph J Mar 01 '21 at 17:40
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Is the A321's range long enough or did you have to refuel en-route? – David Brossard Mar 01 '21 at 19:52
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@DavidBrossard that would be a good new question to ask – DeltaLima Mar 01 '21 at 23:27
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@DavidBrossard It looks like it was direct; 8:10 long: https://i.imgur.com/aF0Ul9r.png – SomeoneSomewhereSupportsMonica Mar 02 '21 at 09:03
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@DavidBrossard The A321 even lists 4000nm as operational range which puts the ~3800 nm from Hamburg to New York within the possible range even for normal flights. – Adwaenyth Mar 02 '21 at 13:22
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Fun fact: they can't build the A321 in TLS because it won't fit through the door, at least until they convert the A380 line over. – user71659 Mar 03 '21 at 08:37

score 49 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 28 '21 at 13:50

49

That is a very very new aircraft. The notes on the jetphotos.com posting (photo taken 2/21/2021, uploaded 2/27/2021) say:

the first A321neo for jetBlue with the Mint suites on board for North American flying and the new "Ribbons" tail design...delivered 26.02.2021 as N2501J

Delivered only yesterday!

The N-number must be a typo, because N2501J is registered as a Cessna 150 and that registration doesn't expire until August 2022. Happily the posting tells us the manufacturer's serial number, 10101, and the FAA's N-number lookup tool allows a search-by-serial among other options. We see that JetBlue is the proud new owner of MSN 10101 N2105J, recently arrived in New York. I don't know when the stickers removal takes place but I suspect it happened before the aircraft left Germany.

Zoom in and contrast/brightness adjusted to reveal N2105J underneath the sticker

The general idea is that the German registration is only temporary until the aircraft is re-registered under its new owner. In fact looking at all jetphotos.com entries for D-AZAJ we can see that specific registration seems to be a relatively common one for fresh-off-the-line A321s: June 2009 in US Airways livery, February 2013 Turkish Airlines, August 2013 Air China, April 2019 Air Transat, December 2019 Starlux, February 2021 JetBlue—all different serial numbers.

edited Feb 28 '21 at 13:50

answered Feb 28 '21 at 03:47

randomhead

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Also note the photo location: Hamburg Finkenwerder - EDHI Germany. That is inside the Airbus Hamburg factory. – Jan Hudec Feb 28 '21 at 07:37
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… I would add that Airbus paints the aircraft at Hamburg, so the aircraft received the final paint job there, but actually hands them to customers elsewhere, usually in Toulouse. Since after that the aircraft never returns to Finkenwerder, it was clearly photographed before delivery. – Jan Hudec Feb 28 '21 at 12:08
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@JanHudec, that's interesting because the FlightAware track shows a direct flight (under the N-number) from XFW/EDHI to JFK. – randomhead Feb 28 '21 at 12:37
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Hm, I don't know. It used to be Toulouse, but maybe they reduced travel due to coronavirus and are now handing over in Hamburg, possibly with electronic signing of documents so the higher management does not need to be present. – Jan Hudec Feb 28 '21 at 13:06
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fantastic Sherlocking here ! – Fattie Feb 28 '21 at 14:44
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@JanHudec I seem to remember hearing that papers were signed in international waters to avoid taxes, although that might just be a made up story? If not, has that stopped in COVID times? – Tim Mar 01 '21 at 01:36
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@Tim, I don't think it would make any difference to the taxes according to the European law. EU does not have a sales tax, and the value added tax depends on whom you sold something and what it was but not where. – Jan Hudec Mar 01 '21 at 05:42
@JanHudec Where something is sold does matter for the VAT. The VAT is not an EU tax, but a national tax, and the rates in France are probably different from Germany. But it doesn't matter here. VAT is only charged for domestic sales; it is refunded when you export the goods (even as a non-EU tourist, you can get that refund, although there is some red tape involved). Since JetBlue is in the US, the VAT would probably not even have been charged in the first place. – Kevin Keane Mar 03 '21 at 06:55
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Also interesting in this context is https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/69726/how-come-some-aircraft-have-really-cool-registration-numbers?rq=1 - apparently, D-AUAA to D-AZZZ are set aside specifically for Airbus Finkenwerder. – Kevin Keane Mar 03 '21 at 07:03
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@JanHudec I think it's because they built a fancy delivery center for the A380 in Hamburg, and with that program ending, they might as well use the infrastructure. – user71659 Mar 03 '21 at 08:29

Why does JetBlue have aircraft registered in Germany?

2 Answers2