LeSving wrote:
Isn’t this just an airport decision? Surely there is no requirement in EASA regulations for a manned airport, except for scheduled commercial flight or some size limit on the aircraft or something.
It’s a decision by the approving authority of the airfield. There are some airports that allow unmanned operations under certain conditions (usually only based aircraft) and there are other exemptions like pilot specific approval to land outside opening hours but generally the authorities require the presence of a ground aid for emergency situations.
There’s no sensible reason for that, it’s just been like that for a very long time and it won’t go away.
At our (German) airport we have a special PPR solution for times when the airport is closed, which costs € 27 one-way, unfortunately. The guy who runs the airport restaurant gets a list of arriving/departing flights and hast to switch on the radio … and the pilots have to make a blind transmission
achimha wrote:
There’s no sensible reason for that, it’s just been like that for a very long time and it won’t go away.
Which responsibilities does this person have? Are they trained AFIS personnel?
So if I purchase a private VFR airport in Germany, sack the Flugleiter and give all pilots the permission to use it at will, what will happen?
LeSving wrote:
Which responsibilities does this person have? Are they trained AFIS personnel?
AFIS is not required for landing but a person knowledgable in the operation of the locally available rescue equipment is required along with the requirement to be able to call for rescue services. This can be easily fulfilled and depending on the airfield owner and approving authorities, it is possible. The German term is “Fliegen ohne Flugleiter” (flying without AFIS).
LeSving wrote:
So if I purchase a private VFR airport in Germany, sack the Flugleiter and give all pilots the permission to use it at will, what will happen?
No, airfield operations are regulated as part of the airfield permission issued by the authorities. There are some small airfields where everybody just takes off and lands at will, without radio but those are small and typically remote. You find most of them in Bavaria. Their official permission does not allow such operations but if there are only cows and sheep…
achimha wrote:
but if there are only cows and sheep
We have a saying: Sheep are alright animals. It’s amazing how often that saying is proved to be true 
Anyway, what you are saying is that there is a requirement for a person to be on the ground, but not a requirement to have one in the tower?
There is even no requirement to have a tower, let alone to have a person in it.
Correct, that is the consolidated legal opinion of the German Bundesländer. They derive it from ICAO which spells out fire fighting requirements. That’s of course complete nonsense because ICAO never said that every meadow in the boondocks used by 3 SEPs a day needs to have firefighting equipment and qualified ground personnel to operate it. It’s the equivalent of each country road having fire fighters on watch every 1km to allow the road to be used.
Airfield concessions in Germany are done by the Bundesländer so there is no federal law. Even inside the Bundesländer it depends a bit on the district what works and what doesn’t. You can find that the more urban the area, the stricter. In the rural areas of the country, aviators have a better standing. If some world market leader happens to be there with a vested interest in the airfield, then virtually everything is possible. See places like Schwäbisch Hall (Würth) or Coburg (Brose).
