.AERO top-level domain will soon be transferred to a new technical operator. .AERO, like .MUSEUM or .COOP, is a sponsored domain: it was created during the first attempts to diversify the domain space, long before the ICANN program of new gTLDs. The domain was included in the DNS root zone in late 2001.
The top-level domain is managed by an international organization SITA, which provides telecommunications and IT services in the aviation industry. .AERO is a closed domain that is only intended for companies and organizations operating in the aviation industry, with SITA certification required for registering names. As of late January 2025, a total of 13,422 names were registered in the domain zone. The largest registrar for .AERO is 101Domain with 4,472 registrations.
According to Domain Name Wire, SITA has notified its partners that .AERO is getting a new technical operator. The company has yet to be identified publicly. Anyway, the transaction is still subject to ICANN approval. It is noteworthy that in 2024, SITA forbade Russian companies and organizations to register or renew domain names in the zone.
