AIR BP refueling - big charges from 1st Jan 2021

A gnome drives to the petrol station and says:
- I’d like two drops of petrol please.
Seller replies:
- What else? Would you like me to fart in your tyre?

That sounds like one of the communist era jokes… I used to know loads

Yes, it is very old.

These charges are significant though, though perhaps not in the context of longer trips. It may accelerate the drift towards ULM and farm strips etc. and reduce the viability of the bigger “GA” airfields as the fuel suppliers milk them.

I had a closer look at the new BP surcharges page. They really depend on the individual airport. Something else to include in your preflightplanning…

On the other hand, the number of affected airports in not so big. Many countries (like France, Italy, Spain, etc.) don’t even feature on the list. Other than Sweden and Norway (where many of the bigger airports don’t carry Avgas anyway), the highest number of affected airports is in Germany. But then again, at least for Avgas, most of these places are “self serve” (from a fixed fuel pump). In these cases, the hookup fees don’t apply, although they don’t say the minimum fuel uplift fee doesn’t apply. Would be weird though, no? Anybody know?

Also, there are fixed fuel pumps where they still insist on fuelling you (no self-serve). Will they then hit you with the hook-up fee?

I also wonder whether the “remote apron” fees (quite steep!) really apply in any typical GA scenerio?

Mooney_Driver wrote:

If however BP card is accepted for payment with an airport operator, then I suggest to pay with other means.

Snoopy wrote:

Fueled up 50 Liters of Jet-A1 yesterday at LOWG.
AirBP now charges
12€ hookup fee
24€ overwing fee
36€ fee if volume <200 Liters

This brings a Liter of Jet-A1 up to roughly 2,4€/L.

Hi Snoopy, did you find a procedure to avoid paying these outrageous fees ? It brings Avgas to greek levels
Does using a BP card vs a credit card make a difference on them ?
Do you make fuel stops at smaller fields ? I understand you have to use BP at the big ones.

Thanks.

boscomantico wrote:

Something else to include in your preflightplanning…

And one more thing to affect safety – trading less convenient airport for lower priced fuel. That’s one of the areas where EC should act against the monopolistic position of fuel suppliers. My experience in general with BP is that it’s shitty company and I avoid them at any cost. A few places where they’re unavoidable I carefully check pricing to escape all possible dirty tricks.

Jujupilote wrote:

Does using a BP card vs a credit card make a difference on them ?
Do you make fuel stops at smaller fields ? I understand you have to use BP at the big ones.

In Austria, all controlled airports offer only BP-fuel for visiting aircrafts from a fuel truck. (@Snoopy correct me if I’m wrong) They don’t accept any debit- or credit cards, you must pay either in cash or with BP-card. Those outrageous fees makes Austrian airports unusable for refueling at the moment, except in emergency cases. That is very sad, as LOWI, LOWS or LOWG are practical places for a technical stop, especially on the way to many non-Schengen and/or non-EU destinations close to Austria, like Croatia, Bosnia, or Switzerland.

Fees for not exceeding the minimum volume of fuel are however charged for a longer period. Back in 2019, I needed to pay 15€ fee for fueling less than 50 liters of Avgas in LOWG. In LOWI, I could fill the plane up with 55 liters, so no additional fee was applied. When flying in Austria, I highly recommended to use uncontrolled aerodromes for refueling. Those offer fuel against very fair prices. Hohenems (LOIH) for example is famous for visiting aircraft from Switzerland and Germany, because of it’s cheap fuel. Immigration and customs is also often available upon request.

boscomantico wrote:

Also, there are fixed fuel pumps where they still insist on fuelling you (no self-serve). Will they then hit you with the hook-up fee?

As far as my experience, the self-service stations from BP in Egelsbach (EDFE) (both 100LL and 91UL) don’t apply any additional fees. I’m not sure however if the same applies to other self-service BP-fuel pumps in Germany. I might check it soon with an aeroclub plane in Dortmund (EDLW).

Yes, but at say Augsburg, where they have a fixed pump for Avgas, but insist on serving you (no self serve), they do seem to charge the hookup fee. Granted, for Augsburg, it is only 10€, but still.

It must also not be forgotten that in Germany, BP fuel is alredy more expensive than they fuel at most of the smaller airfields. Add the fee, and it becomes matter of „if you really absolutely need fuel“.

Austria seems to be hit particularly badly by these fees, as they have a few airports which are regularly used by GA (Graz, Innsbruck, Salzburg) but where they only serve fuel by bowser, which means no self-serve, which, well, costs more and this cost is handed on to the client.

I agree with Emir, BP is not company that is pleasant to deal with for private individuals.

Thank you Frans.
My problem is to visit the main Austrian cities, the bigger airports are by far the most convenient.

If someone brang these practices to the EU Parliament under a « low carbon » perspective, it would be banned in 24 hours. It is a malus to the greener airplanes !