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Customs and Immigration as separate services, and flights to/from the UK

A friend who is very much a ‘can do’ type of guy told me he was going to a certain airport in northern France and I told him ‘Oh, that’s a non-customs airfield you can’t fly direct there’. He replied that he had called the airport manager and he had sorted customs and also not to worry about the FR-only requirement (he was arriving outside ATS hours)…So is it the case that as long as the airport manager is friends with the local police its all good? I also heard of an airpark where residents were ‘allowed’ to depart direct to the UK on with no notice on agreement with the mayor or some senior policeman.

Last Edited by zuutroy at 12 Aug 21:34
EIMH, Ireland

A friend who is very much a ‘can do’ type of guy told me he was going to a certain airport in northern France and I told him ‘Oh, that’s a non-customs airfield you can’t fly direct there’. He replied that he had called the airport manager and he had sorted customs and also not to worry about the FR-only requirement (he was arriving outside ATS hours)…So is it the case that as long as the airport manager is friends with the local police its all good?

The further south you go in Europe, the more true that is, and France is far enough south

The basic rule is that lots of things are possible unless you p1ss off somebody big and then you get big trouble because he cannot be seen to lose face.

FWIW, for decades, Brits were flying in and out of France via any airfield, and nobody cared. Especially departing from France to the UK, when the French don’t get an opportunity to interview the pilot. It’s like the GAR form; nobody I knew used it, until fairly recently. I have kept all my GAR forms and the oldest is 2005

I also heard of an airpark where residents were ‘allowed’ to depart direct to the UK on with no notice on agreement with the mayor or some senior policeman.

That may be LFRI which serves a couple of nearby air parks, and has a recently establishment arrangement with the police.

The differences in the LFPN and LFPT notices do not (I believe) reflect different situations, but different (mis)understandings by the people who wrote them.

Would I be right in saying that neither is OK for UK flights and the difference relates purely to Switzerland and Norway (schengen but non EU)?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

According to the AIP, yes that is a difference. But where does that difference come from? Each airport seems to have their own interpretation of the treaties; for example La Mole requires a PNR and Gendec for Schengen flights, Avignon’s AIP says nothing about Schengen specifically but Ops will tell the Douanes want a gendec if you go to Italy, for example… and most French airports will want nothing if you stay inside Schengen (unless you import/export in excess of the franchise of course), and that’s certainly true in my experience of airports in the Netherlands, Danemark or Germany, but in Spain they want the passengers’ passport number in the remarks of the FPL. At least they have a national approach to things. In France, every airport does their own thing, depending on the local cheese type, I guess

Whereas article 9 of this local copy clearly says

Aerodromes which do not have the status of border crossing points shall be allowed to receive direct flights from or to countries belonging to the Schengen area, without any formality related to the border control of persons being required, without prejudice to the provisions laid down in Chapter III of this Order.
However, when internal border controls are temporarily reintroduced pursuant to the Schengen Borders Code, border controls may be carried out at such aerodromes by the services designated in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 3.

Last Edited by denopa at 12 Aug 22:43
EGTF, LFTF

La Mole requires a PNR and Gendec for Schengen flights

Since no police is required for that, that is just silly but any airport can be PNR/PPR if they want to be; Europe has no equivalent of the US “public airport” concept (tied in with the FAA subsidy).

in Spain they want the passengers’ passport number in the remarks of the FPL

This is in the Spanish AIP fo extra schengen flights?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

This is in the Spanish AIP fo extra schengen flights?

No, but Sabadell asked for it on my way from Milan, and Cuatrovientos asked for it on my way to LFTF, when I notified them of my trip by email.

EGTF, LFTF

Peter wrote:

Europe has no equivalent of the US “public airport” concept

This is country dependent. Germany certainly has it. A lot of small airfields are licenced as public airfields, have a obligation to accept aircraft during their published hours, and their landing fees are subject to authority approval.

Biggin Hill

Same in Norway. Airports run by Avinor are open for everyone. Free parking for private GA etc. All in all it seems UK is the exception, not Europe. It’s more that Europe is a mix, also within one country.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

Has anyone flown to MZ (EHMZ) or Texel (EHTX) from UK? their AIP entries are dodgy, they distinguish immigration & custom?

I have flown to both while ago (few Texel August fly-ins and MZ in 2019) but not sure if anyone has a recent pirep starting this year?

Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

Ibra wrote:

Has anyone flown to MZ (EHMZ) or Texel (EHTX) from UK?

For Netherlands you need send them a copy of the UK GAR form and also complete this form as well

https://www.gendec.eu/

Does that still work now for flying UK to EHMZ & EHTX as of today? or one has to fly to Rotterdam or Breda first?

I am interested in recent pirep…

Last Edited by Ibra at 23 May 14:12
Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom
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