Peter wrote:
Someone sent me this German document.
Germans are always quite complex. Therefore our world would be to simple if we only had “Customs Airfields” and “Non-Customs Airfields” but there is also a third category in between that the customs authorities call “Special Airfield” (“Besonderer Landeplatz”).
The good news is: For all practical purposes of non commercial flights w/o customs goods on board those “special airfields” work the same way as customs airfields do …
T28 wrote:
Would the CH – GER flight not be covered
Yes – a CH-GER flight has to use a customs airfield or a special airfield.
Hardest thing sometimes is to remember that Lugano is a Swiss and not an Italian city and therefore you actually arrive from outside the union …. but that is a different story ;-)
Doesn’t say anything about registrations Zwang though.
Would the CH – GER flight not be covered by “aus einem Drittland oder Drittgebiet einfliegende Flugzeuge
grundsätzlich nur auf einem sogenannten Zollflugplatz landen” except when non-commercially operated?
This contains the German concession that if on an EU-reg aircraft, and without merchandise on board, no customs are required for leaving Germany towards non-EU.
So, nothing directly to do with importing an aircraft. And nothing to do with the Würzburg case either, since that was about a flight from CH to GER.
If you believe everything you read on the internet, you have a lot of weird things to digest…
throw in some conspiracy theories…
And hey presto, life is dangerous ;-)
Cool, so now we only need to spread the word :)
Curiously, it seems that for D-registered planes, indeed you are allowed to directly fly to Switzerland in case you don’t have anything to declare. But that part, I personally still wouldn’t fully trust, just because there is so much uncertainty and misinformation around that topic.
Rules are clearly stated (in German, but still) Customs offices confirm it. Only badly informed airfield staff doesnt know (like the high profile cases discussed here)
And yes, I have used it several times (and on the way back used a customs airport) with no problem. No proof, just anecdotal, but still…
It’s not about D-reg and non-D-reg, but it’s about EU-reg and non-EU-reg. I’ve talked to two different customs directions (HZA Saarbrücken and HZA Bielefeld) and they both confirmed that leaving the EU is allowed from all German aerodromes, as long as you fly a EU-registered aircraft, which will be “reimported” again. However, even for non-customs airports, you still have to send customs a short notice or give them a call, but you don’t need a Einzelbefreiung. This document on the customs homepage describes it very well.
This means that e.g. N-reg and HB-reg airplanes have to use a Besondere Landeplatz from List A with prior notification to customs or a normal Zollflugplatz at all times. If you have goods to declare, a Zollflugplatz should always be used, regardless of registration, inbound or outbound.
on the German board there was a lot of discussion and confusion, but in the mean time it seems to be confirmed that non-D-registered planes have to use the normal customs process when leaving Germany to Switzerland, i.e. use a proper Zollflugplatz like EDNY or use the prior notice process for the smaller airfields like EDNL.
Curiously, it seems that for D-registered planes, indeed you are allowed to directly fly to Switzerland in case you don’t have anything to declare. But that part, I personally still wouldn’t fully trust, just because there is so much uncertainty and misinformation around that topic.
Then of course there is another aspect to this: What does constitute a “customs stop”: Full-Stop landing incl. taxi and wait at apron, touch and go, overflying airfield (and AFIS person makes an entry in main log book that you landed)?
Maybe some questions are better left unasked…
Curiously, no input on this…
There was, of course, this big event which may be of relevance.
