PiperArcher: Flying into Dusseldorf is fine to do in a GA aircraft. I have done it several times. They have a nice GA terminal just to the side of the main terminal. It is walking distance from the main terminal. Alternatively you can fly to Niederrhein-Weeze airport which is also close to Dusseldorf. All can be done. The only thing with Dusseldorf is that they want you most of the time to keep up the speed when established on the ILS. I personally have no problem flying down the glideslpe at a speed of over 150-160 IAS to only slow down once I am over the threshold.
But out of say Shoreham, opening 8am and closing 7pm
Ouch. That would indeed be extremely limiting for regular business travel. Is this typical opening hours for mid-size GA airports in Europe?
A couple of years ago during a 1½ year period, my home airport opened at 8am and closed at 6:30pm due to runway extension works at night – flight planning was extremely stressful, constantly making sure to time the arrival just before closing at night. Twice I came in 5 mins late & were forced to divert to an alternate.
Operations is now back to 24/7 (including ATC & immigration, with no additional charges for night ops), which just makes all the difference in the world. Also night flying is great.
This is why Oxford works for me for business flying. Opens at 6am local and closes at 10.30pm. Pretty rare for non CAT airports in the UK.
I use Monchengladbach when I go to Dusseldorf: it’s an excellent airport with ILS on both runways. Last time I went, the landing fee and three days parking came to €47.60 and, if you need it, there are two very helpful maintenance companies there.
I fly for business from time to time. Homebase (LDZA) is some 20 min by car and on destination it’s usually short taxi drive from the airport.
I think some info on tactics used to make it work would be useful.
OK my view is the following help to make it viable (mostly aimed at day trips).
I also live a long way from Heathrow/Gatwick. I am typically on the ground in Germany before I would be on the plane at the gate in the UK. A fast plane helps but more importantly it is about no waiting times. When you are ready to go, you go. If your meeting runs late, you just delay the flight plan.
Jason: good points.
What I do to get a good dispatch rate is to be flexible in the time of departure (hour less or more), so I schedule my appointments in that way as well. I just inform the other party that I am not an airliner and ask for the flexibility. In most cases I get it and I keep them informed by sending a text message (satellite) with my progress or ETA if it deviates from plan. The flexibility to move you departure earlier or a little later covers for most severe weather events such as thunderstorms and the like.
A landing fee of 100 or more euro at one place might be cheaper than a landing fee elsewhere with the additional transportation to a city or other hassles. I do as well like to meet up at airports. Some of these are very convenient as they have good restaurants at the airfield.
If I have to plan far ahead, I plan into larger IFR airports like Vienna Int’l or others with high intensity approach lights, ILS and longer runways if possible. If the plan is to meet somewhere in the next few days, I first check the basic weather forecast before setting up a meeting at e.g. a grass strip. I do use apps on the iPhone and iPad all the time while enroute. Flight preparation, checking the weather and filing flightplans does not take me any extra time once I am on the “road”/trip.
I am not hindered by low minima and enjoy the flying all the time. I do not know how I could make the same number of appointments in the same amount of time when using public transportation. I just fly from one appointment to the next with no waiting times at airports, no transfers, nothing nada. The last flights for a day end up at a convenient airport which has e.g. pilot controlled lights and an approach or which is open all day/night (e.g. Vienna Int’l) and a hotel right next to the runway (Reims-Prunay, Lyon-Bron, etc.).
So far my experiment “GA for business travel” is working out very good.
The main thing to keep in mind is that I never travel to a business appointment but instead commute to work every week. I work somewhere onsite for two days with a client and then either return home or move on to the next client for another two days. I can easily delay, as my engagement with the client is over several weeks or months and usually my presence on day D at time H is not so important but is my continuous influence with the client’s team.
I actively use examples from aviation in my work with the software development teams I coach or I may talk about the flight in the morning and show some pictures over coffee to open up a conversation with an individual or a small group. Before I returned to Europe I worked in the US while living in Panama and there it wasn’t flying but horses and other activities in the rainforest. It was always appreciated and broke the ice on some occasions. I also send people to my blog where this and other things I’ve done so far are well documented. My service is based on trust and openness.
I’ve done the same travel thing before as an airline passenger and it is much more flexible and relaxing to fly GA. The main pain points with the airlines are the unavoidable waiting times and the security hassle at the airport. I travel with a lot of electronic gear and its cables in my carry-on baggage and you can imagine that this is always “special”.
Further commercial airports are such a hectic and noisy environment. After two days of talking, thinking and figuring technical and social stuff out I pretty much enjoy such a view. It is good for the soul
I am continuously documenting what I learn along the way at http://www.stephan-schwab.com/category/aviation.html and have some general background article at http://www.stephan-schwab.com/airtravel/
I’ve used my plane many times for business. VFR, as well. I’m not IR rated yet. When I work I start very early in the morning and absolutely need to be there. However, I normally have a day or two downtime previous that job, so what I’ve done many times is just give myself enough time to get there on the day (or days) before. So far it has worked out pretty well. Once I had a technical malfunction halfway to my destination and had to leave aircraft behind and go on airlines, but I had plenty of time on my hand.
I’ve flown from LA to Chicago, to Vancouver, to New Orleans, to Nashville and to NY for business. Most of these trips well above 1500nm one way. But the best one from a saved time/hassle standpoint was last year when my presence was required in a small town called Baker City in Oregon:
The producer asked me if she should reserve a ticket for me from Los Angeles to either Boise or Portland for, which would I prefer? Baker City is on the border of Oregon and Idaho and the drive from Boise would be 2hrs. And from Portland a whopping 5hrs!
My options were:
1. LAX to either Phoenix or Salt Lake City. Wait 2 hrs, connect, then fly to Boise, then drive for 2 hrs. Total door to door travel time: about 10hrs
2. LAX direct to Portland, then drive for 5hrs. Total door to door: 10hrs
I took a quick glance at the map and sure enough; Baker City Municipal Airport with its 3 long rwy’s was a mere three miles outside of town. “I’ll get myself up there”, I heard myself say. On the day, I comfortably cruised up there in perfect VFR in 3hrs 20mins with my second unit cameraman in tow, saving production even more money as they now didn’t have to fly him either. Not only that, we brought our foldable bikes and could cycle in from airport ourselves. Door to door time was less than 5hrs.
Sometimes it’s great to have your own plane.