Can you use an aerodrome outside its opening hours

In the UK, some you can, some you can’t, some you can if you fill out a form, some of them you have to fill out the form in advance, some you can if you are based etc etc.

Best to call and ask!

Timothy wrote:

In the UK, some you can, some you can’t, some you can if you fill out a form, some of them you have to fill out the form in advance, some you can if you are based etc etc.

Other than out of hours form, some will ask you to check with the nearby airfield resident who live just behind your propeller while you are parked (he agreed for 5am departure but asked to push the aircraft engine OFF to the runway holding point, did not feel physically fit that morning so we departed at 8.30am )

Michel,

this is totally country-depdendant, and even within countries, it is highly airport specific.
It is therefore impossible to discuss this here, without going into many many details, for each and every European country.

Even what you say about Germany is not correct. It is well possible to land at airports outside of their opening hours. These published opening hours merely constitute guaranteed opening hours. But outside of those, it is merely a matter a getting permission to land.This can range from very easy to very difficult, and from free of charge to prohibitively expensive.

michelb wrote:

In Germany, you’re not allowed to use the airfields outside the opening hours.
Do you know if similar restrictions apply to other European countries ?

That is up to the airfield operator to decide, for small airports the answer is usually yes, for larger usually no. (But large airports tend to be open H24 anyway.) The big difference is that other countries (except Austria?) don’t have the “Flugleiterpflicht” so there is no legal reason to demand that the airfield is manned when aircraft take off or land.

In the UK you often can, subject to signing an “indemnity” and often this is available only to based pilots.

Reasons for not allowing it might includes

• locals complaining about noise in the evenings etc
• the planning permission not allowing it
• the airfield doesn’t have a planning permission and is trying to keep the locals “well buttered” (this is the case with most “farm strips” that use the 28-day rule)
• too many people not putting the landing fee into the letter box
• some pilots taking the p1ss and operating outside even of the extended available hours

In Switzerland not even the large airports are H24 but have a nightban for GA from 2200 to 0600 LT at least.

The same goes for many large airports in Germany and other places as well.

Small airports are usually only available SR to SS or even less, such as from 8 to 20 LT.

The main problem with all this is that airports are not regarded as infrastructure by most people but as rich people’s playgrounds where GA is concerned. Unless of course they want to fly for their own holiday.

michelb wrote:

In France, outside the hours, you transmit blind and take off or land.

Not necessarily.
Your mixing ATS opening hours and airfield opening hours.
Some airfields have limited opening hours in France too (regardless of ATS opening, mostly due to noise abatment). Toussus (LFPN), Melun (LFPM, PPR after 22h lcl) and Cannes (LFMD) come to my mind.