North Atlantic ferry
Across the North Atlantic, in the right aircraft.
Ferry flights between North America and Europe for aircraft that are, or can be made, suitable for it. Planned and coordinated by Atya Aviation and flown with a partner pilot experienced on the North Atlantic.
Most of the crossing happens on the ground.
An ocean crossing in a light aircraft is a chain of short decisions made well: whether this aircraft should go at all, what it needs fitted first, which day each leg is flown, and which airfield is the plan B for every one of them.
We start with the question most ferry companies skip: is your aircraft a sensible candidate? Sometimes the honest answer is a ferry tank and an HF radio. Sometimes it is a ship. You hear it before any money is committed.
The crossing itself is flown with a partner pilot who has done it before. Atya Aviation plans it, coordinates the equipment, permits and insurance, and is your single point of contact from the first email to the handover.
The northern route
Stepping stones, not one long leg.
The usual route for light aircraft hops from Scotland through the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland to Canada, so no leg is longer than a well-equipped aircraft can fly with reserves. Long-range aircraft can go further south, via the Azores.
| Leg | Distance |
|---|---|
| Wick → Vágar | 250 NM |
| Vágar → Reykjavík | 416 NM |
| Reykjavík → Kulusuk | 396 NM |
| Kulusuk → Nuuk | 379 NM |
| Nuuk → Iqaluit | 444 NM |
| Nuuk → Goose Bay | 706 NM |
| Santa Maria → St. John's | 1371 NM |
Suitability
What makes an aircraft suitable.
Six things decide whether a crossing makes sense. We look at all of them before quoting.
Range for the longest leg
The usual northern route's longest leg is about 444 NM, before alternates and reserves. Aircraft that cannot cover that with a proper margin need a ferry tank, which brings its own approval paperwork.
Communications
Two-way communication suited to the oceanic and remote airspace crossed. Usually HF, sometimes satellite voice, depending on the route and the current requirements of each state.
Survival equipment
Cold-water and Arctic kit for everyone on board: immersion suits, a life raft, a 406 MHz locator beacon and a survival pack. Carried, checked and briefed, not just listed.
Ice and season
Ice is the constraint that decides most crossings. Aircraft without ice protection go in the summer window, and only on a forecast that supports it.
Mechanical condition
A recent inspection, no open deferred defects, known oil consumption and an engine the owner trusts over cold water. Anything doubtful is fixed before departure, not en route.
Documents and insurance
Registration, airworthiness and insurance that explicitly covers the oceanic crossing. If the aircraft changes registry, the export and import steps are timed around the flight.
How it runs
From first email to handover.
Suitability check
Type, range, equipment, condition and documents reviewed. You get an honest yes, a yes-with-changes, or a no.
Preparation
Equipment fitted or hired, ferry tank if needed, permits, insurance confirmation and a route chosen for that aircraft.
The crossing
Flown leg by leg with weather days built in. Position reports and progress updates to you throughout.
Arrival
Written handover, equipment returned, and registration or import steps lined up with your maintenance organisation.
What owners ask first.
A partner pilot with North Atlantic ferry experience, with Atya Aviation planning and coordinating the whole move. Depending on the aircraft we may fly it together. You know who is in the seat before anything is booked.
Many do. It needs the range, or a ferry tank, the right communications and survival equipment, a sound engine and a conservative approach to weather. Whether your particular aircraft is a sensible candidate is exactly what the suitability check answers.
The flying itself is a few days. Door to door, plan on one to two weeks, because the weather decides when each leg goes. Shorter is possible; promising it in advance is not.
Both. Most crossings we are asked about bring an aircraft bought in the United States or Canada to Europe, but Europe to North America works the same way in reverse.
Roughly May to September for aircraft without ice protection. Outside that window the weather over Greenland and the Labrador Sea leaves too few usable days.
Changing registry is handled by the registries and your maintenance organisation, not by the ferry. We time the flight around it, and make sure the aircraft arrives with the paperwork they will ask for.
Is your aircraft a candidate?
Send the type, where it is and where it needs to go. The suitability check comes first, and nothing is committed until you have seen it.
- Aircraft type and registration
- Range or endurance, if you know it
- What is already fitted: ferry tank, HF, ice protection