what is BF?
BF = Border Force (UK Customs and Immigration)
I was listening to the BBC news this morning also….“Private flights are circumventing normal checks”…..of course no mention of private yachts…anyway the whole concept of GAR may be at risk….ie entry only by full ports of entry
Now that would really be a disaster. Full ports of entry (with customs and immigration and police) are very few and most of these are very expensive.
Let’s hope for some good news soon.
Same for flight to and from RoI, NI and the IoM.
This was discussed a while ago, I don’t think it will apply to NI and the Isle of Man because this GAR requirement was purely to do with customs and not to do with Special Branch. Customs isn’t required for the Isle of Man because it’s in a common customs area with the UK (i.e. it effectively is the UK as far as customs is concerned), and NI is part of the UK. The Channel Islands on the other hand are not part of the common customs area.
Yes, that would make sense. Thanks.
Launch of OnlineGAR.com
I would like to announce the launch of OnlineGAR.com, on the 19th March.
The site provides an easy to use interface in order to file GAR reports. It keeps a copy of all forms, passengers and aircraft under your account and allows you to quickly re-file similar trips without having to re-key information. It works on PCs, Tablets and smart phones.
In addition, there will be new mobile apps for iPhone and Android which build upon the previous version of the GAR apps, but add the ability to synchronise data between the site and the app.
The service is no longer free, but leisure pilots will be given yearly free credits enough to satisfy light casual travel. Unfortunately, with no financial support from the border agency or other players in the market, John found himself paying all costs from his own pocket, and this simply wasn’t sustainable for him. I’m now running this as a business that needs to pay it’s way. John has committed to keeping the old mobile apps running until his hosting expires (around 6 months), and negotiations will commence with AOPA to find a sustainable way of keeping their silverlight app running.
SkyDemon will offer integration into the new system, meaning a single click in Skydemon submits your data to the GAR form and then needs very little extra adding to complete the process.
During the run-up to launch, we’re inviting anyone to come in, create an account, and have a play. Any data submitted goes all the way through to the official UK Border Force testing server, and you’ll be given a reference.
Once launch day is reached, we’ll clear out all the data from the system. Please keep a close eye on the messages and make sure it’s still in test mode before sending any GAR forms. All buttons are clearly labelled so it should be very clear whether you’re about to do a test or live GAR form.
We have a bounty for bugs – the first person to report a bug to me, and help test it’s fix, will be given a few free credits to use the system once live. The same goes for any ideas of additional features that I choose to implement.
A key market will be airfields and FBO, and we will have a “business” class user to cater for this. Business users will be able to use the system as a cloud management portal, keeping a full audit record of GAR activities in order to satisfy any audit requirements. We hope that if we get sufficient take up from business users we’ll be able to be more generous with the leisure flyers and offer more free credits.
Interesting, happy to use but why should other users sponsor “leisure” users?
Will I be able to have a copy of the GAR to send to airfields that still require this?
It’s an interesting point – I guess in reality, all users get the same free entitlement. It’s a common business approach to charge commercials and businesses one rate and individuals another – many websites are free for personal and charged for businesses. We have been keen to have a free allowance since the inception of the project, and we still stand by that goal. For heavier users the pricing is pretty reasonable, a tiny % of an overall international trip. I’m sure the pricing debate could rage on with everyone having an opinion – like every business we’ve picked a model and this is how we will launch. Of course everything will be kept under constant review as we progress.
For the second question – The copy – we have this facility built in. There’s a field called “copy email” that will copy the GAR to any email address of your choice, but will have sensitive personal data removed. it will show the UKBF reference and acknowledgement, but no passport or address data. In addition, any airfields who sign up with us as business users will be able to see that GAR on the platform automatically without you even having to send to them – again with sensitive data removed.
But will it show passenger names, nationalities? That in my experience is what they want to see.
And on the business model don’t forget you are competing with a free product – the faxed version from the airfield ops dept. Will of course be important to show some real value-add to charge for it.
Currently the email that goes out as a copy includes Name and Capacity only. Capacity meaning Pilot/Passenger. I could include the nationality i suppose, that’s not really private, so i shall make that change now.
We are indeed competing with a free product for now. I have no inside information, and don’t want to start a rumour, but in my opinion the fax model is unsustainable and highly inefficient at the border force end, it would not surprise me if this were to be withdrawn at some point in the future. Unlike the electronic GARs that are automatically workflowed to the correct border force and police force, it comes out of a fax machine in central HQ where it has to be sorted, copied and manually keyed into the system before it then makes its way to the correct people. The slightest mistake by you, or them, and it goes missing. Pilots who want to protect themselves and guarantee they don’t end up being detained would be wise to file electronically. Anyone who thinks that’s not worth £3 doesn’t value their own time :)
