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Sickening GA developments in Stockholm, Sweden.

Again, things might be different if jobs and businesses are involved. No? It would then not be a pilot's problem, but a social one. The administration in charge of these airports might even be willing to throw a few hundreds of k to show how they try tosave these jobs and businesses. Around Paris there are several GA airfields, and some of them were threatened by neighbours, politicians... What kept them alive was the businesses which would close, leaving people unemployed when every gouvernement tries to create and save jobs.

SE France

Ahhaa,same adventure everywhere...

Athens GA was based in a nice little airport called Marathon LGMR,50Km from center. It remained intact till 2002 when Olympic Games urge, dictated its demolition and tranformation of its RWY into a Kayak long lake which was only used once.Now it sits unused and dirty as a frog paradise.

Athens GA was given a 1 year chance to move to the also decommissioned Athens Intl Airport LGAT.But the dream only lasted short.Eventualy the big brains dug into its RWYs and incapacitated it.

Once more, Athens GA moved 100Km north to the high activities Tanagra MIL LGTG.Yes you guessed allright...No flights were permited during working days,during dog fighting with Turks etc.Pilots entry was permited after prior declaration through Mil Security,weekends only.Till suddenly they imposed some exorbitant parking fees like 10.000Euro per year and everybody was scattered around some mini airstrips such as Papadopoulos 400m strip,120Km north of Athens,good only for the brave ones.

The situation setlled in 2007 by commissioning Megara MIL airport 60Km west of Athens, LGMG to be the official GA airport of Athens and the base of schools and maintenance.

What a peaceful coexistence ,if you dont realise that Greek GA is now shrinking 50% per year.

(Message from the Big Brains :"We allways find a way to make your day")

LGGG

Does France have more of a social conscience than UK? Many airports in the UK are either run by or ultimately owned by local government (one would assume by the people, for the people). Unfortunately, such are the cuts imposed on local government that the bottom line of the balance sheet is more important to local government than the people they represent. The business operating Stansted Airport is now owed by a business that is, in turn, owed to a large degree by the local government of Manchester. Are they operating that airport for the benefit of Manchester or Essex tax payers? I am sure they did not buy that airport for the benefit of jobs in Manchester but purely as a business but let's not go off on a tangent as to the rights and wrongs of local government investing in business ventures. Yes, you could set up a new airfield for GA but the many of the established ones in UK are fighting for survival. The ones that are not being targeted for housing (Filton is gone, Panshanger is under threat, etc.) are in the middle of nowhere and, as such, not helpful as part of a joined up transport solution for a traveller wanting to use GA. It seems that all provincial airport see themselves as airports for Ryanair or Easyjet, not for light GA. A local council is not bothered if my job at the local airport disappears as long as they get their rent. Where do we, light GA, go? It is very worrying.

Greece amazes me... it has Europe's biggest economic case for GA, with all those islands which are served by boats which take for ever to get anywhere.

I hope the current decline in GA activity there is driven by the current economic situation and the aggressive and stupid asset tax (e.g. owning a 250HP TB20 requires you to declare ~ €100k of income - workarounds for owners with a lower income include syndicating it, or moving to non-SX-reg) and nothing worse...

I have never landed at Megara; it has no Customs.

I wonder which countries allow "farm strips"? The UK does, Germany doesn't. That may be the future of GA in many years' time, but it will need pilots to work together more, and yes dig into their wallets to secure a long term solution. I think GA is its own worst enemy, whinging about £10-20 landing fees and then wondering why the airfield owner gets fed up with it.

Unfortunately, such are the cuts imposed on local government that the bottom line of the balance sheet is more important to local government than the people they represent.

The problem is probably elsewhere. At my base, Shoreham EGKA, the local council which owns the freehold is totally scared of being accused of running a facility for the rich. They are happy to retain the freehold (which they do, with various covenants ensuring the operation as an airport till ~ 2040, for countryside planning purposes) but they do not want to end up running the airport for more than 10 seconds.

Yes, you could set up a new airfield for GA but the many of the established ones in UK are fighting for survival

I agree but I suspect it is largely due to mismanagement of fixed costs. Go to any of the larger places in the UK and you see yellow jacketed jobsworths everywhere. Each of them is costing say £40k i.e. £80k by the time the job is fully costed. The fire crew might be 10 of them. It will take an eye watering amount of landing fees to cover that. Yet, GA ops need virtually no fire crew. It is only the larger AOC ops that need that. You could run a non AOC capable GA site for a small fraction of the usual fixed costs. It would need some commercial property on site e.g. a school and a maintenance company, and maybe some offices.

Go to say Norwich or Biggin and count the jobsworths which are there due to either empire creation or for AOC ops compliance. Shoreham at one time had a fire crew for 150 seat airliners.

Does France have more of a social conscience than UK?

France is happy to have airfields funded by chambers of commerce, but that system is not in line with the British psyche.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I don't think light GA supports a business model. Essentially unless you have private jets and high usage corporate aircraft (or air transport operations) there is simply not enough money in landing fees and fuel sales to support an airport.

I am not talking about a grass strip as I don't know the economics there but a paved airfield is incredibly expensive to run.

I am happy to be proved wrong but I can't think of a truly successful light GA airport in the UK ie profit making.

EGTK Oxford

That's why I said some commercial property is needed.

If somebody who actually knows the regulations would like to present some figures, I would be really interested (seriously).

I am coming to this with general (non aviation) business experience since 1978 and most places I land at I see full of people twiddling their fingers and in many cases being pompously obnoxious which is always a 100% sure sign of the "usual problem".

It takes smart and strong management to prevent an empire being built all over the place and that is a rare talent. There is usually no "buy-in" into change or even into a status quo.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I agree but I suspect it is largely due to mismanagement of fixed costs. Go to any of the larger places in the UK and you see yellow jacketed jobsworths everywhere

This. I learned to fly at Houston Gulf airport (a private but public use airport) which had no taxpayer subsidy. While it didn't make fistfuls of money it did at least make a profit without charging a landing fee. But unlike most UK airfields, there were only two airfield staff on site (the manager and the line man) and not a yellow jacket in sight. They handled everything from microlights to business jets and sold Jet-A1 and avgas.

Andreas IOM

I think the key to many US ops is that the airfield has a much bigger gross profit on fuel. Here an airfield makes about 30p/litre which is very important but the biggest chunk (duty) goes to the Govt.

there were only two airfield staff on site

The same is possible in the UK too - for example see Welshpool. Sometimes, nobody there, except maybe somebody on the radio (who may have been airborne doing flying lessons). Good for all private ops including a twin corporate turboprop.

It is the escalation from that which is the real problem.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Unfortunately the era of Chamber of Commerce airfields in France is coming to an end.

Local Chambers are waking up to the "potential", hence the fact that it used to cost us about €30 to land a CJ2 at Annecy on a Sunday, now it costs about €550. The passengers still receive exactly the same welcome and service; i.e. a 50 yard walk into the terminal carrying their own bags.

A Canadian "Infrastructure investor" is now involved in some way.

Darley Moor, Gamston (UK)

The utility of a 'small' plane for business is going down, rapidly. Most metropol regions (Stockholm, Munich, Berlin....) can not be reached via GA in a sensible way. I had to cut down business in Munich.

Friday I was in LCY and a mother told her son: Look out there is this small Cessna landing. That small Cessna was a Falcon2000S, not a even a small slowtation.

United Kingdom
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