A Portuguese owner has obtained the first UK registration for a TBM 700 single engine turboprop.

Jose Madeira, a partner with Selmair in Lisbon, confirmed that Selmair had organised the registration through Air Touring of the UK.

Madeira said that he believed other owners had not completed UK registration formalities because they did not feel it worthwhile to go through the country's particularly strict instrument-rating formalities.

But he said: "The owner of the TBM 700 already had high instrument rating so this was not a problem."

The TBM 700, based at Cascais in Portugal, had FAA registration and then went through the UK Civil Aviation Authority formalities.

Selmair, a consultancy, is a distributor of general aviation aircraft in Spain and Portugal, and its activities include charter and aircraft management.

Michael Pearce, ceo of Biggin Hill-based Air Touring, exclusive distributor for the UK and Ireland for Socata aircraft, said: "This was the first registration of a TBM 700 and has happened since EASA took over responsibility for registrations."