Possible Fly-in

3 out of 4 flights were all from/to international airports with customs. But I didn't receive customs on any of them.

The word "Customs", as used in the airport description in airport guides, means the airport is permitted to be used as a Port of Entry into (or out of) the country.

This is a piece from the French AIP for Biarritz LFBZ

Here they actually use "Customs and Immigration" but the international standard word is just "Customs".

Whether somebody actually meets you is irrelevant and indeed at most airports nobody looks at you. I have never been looked at at Le Touquet for example. One tends to get checked at airports that have a full-time airline activity e.g. Lyon because the police hang out there all the time. In a few countries one is always checked even at small places e.g. Croatia.

Switzerland varies. I have been checked on the way in, but wasn't checked when departing from Wangen Lachen which was "Exit Customs" i.e. it was a Port of Entry but only for leaving Switzerland (and I am pretty sure they rarely turn up; why should any country care who is leaving it?). If you fly via Zurich then you can be sure to be checked. But not if you are passing through an aeroclub (and that is normal, for obvious reasons).

This in contrary with my experience with travelling to the UK for example.

The UK runs a system where Customs watch the flight plans and decide whether to have a look at you. If you are inbound from Le Touquet, like 1000 Brits on any sunny Sunday or probably from anywhere in France, they won't bother. If you are inbound from Vietnam you are 100% sure to be checked If you are leaving the UK (to anywhere), it is extremely unlikely anybody will care. But the UK operates the GAR form self-declaration system and if you don't file the GAR form on an inbound flight which requires one they are very likely to meet you. If you are flying from the only places where "Irish terrorists" have ever come from i.e. Ireland (N or S), the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man, and you haven't filed the GAR, you are (IME) 100% sure to be met and you will get an unpleasant "interview". The IRA never worked out how to travel to France, so this system keeps Great Britain totally free from terrorists....... as well as creating a good number of police jobs. But the enforcement of the GAR is much less than 100% so often you get away with it.

The GAR is a good system because it effectively enables even a farm strip to be used as a Port of Entry, and no other country has got that, but it has some issues e.g. the conditions where it is required vary by airport and are sometimes very hard to establish.

So, the fact that you have flown in or out of the UK and not seen a policeman doesn't mean you did it legally.

0fficer, you seem to take it in hard so excuse me for a crude comparison:

Imagine you (or me, or whoever) land at the home airport, and get a ramp check, and be caught with 5 kg of cocaine in the luggage.

"But, Sir, this is the umpteenth time I've done it, and it never was a problem!"

"But, Sir, I thoroughly checked the AIP, the word cocaine does not once appear in it!"

Need I say more?

I understand that not every law and rule is in the AIP. But I thought that if you have exceptions to the normal laws and agreements, you have to provide such info in the AIP.

So, if you sign the Schengen agreement and you still want to check me. Just put it in the AIP. Switzerland has done that in their AIP:

Aircraft landing on or departing from Swiss territory must first land at or finally take off from a customs aerodrome REF: AD 2.3. OPERATIONAL HOURS Private aircraft may also depart from a limited number of other aerodromes REF: VFR Manual, VFR AGA 0, § 2. The competent customs office will decide on the appropriate clearance procedure.

So I've complied with that rule, but I've never been checked. Not even on Zurich as Peter suggests.

Now I just need to find the same kind or rule in the German AIP :)

EDIT:

This is what I can find in the German AIP, but I am not sure what it means.

1.2 Control by border police authorities for entry into or departure from the area of the Schengen contracting parties complies with the regulations of the Schengen Implementation Agreement of 19th June 1990. The contracting parties presently implementing this agreement are Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal. Flights within the Schengen con- tracting parties (domestic flights) will not normally be controlled by the border police.

So Germany only accepts no border controls from Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal. Or from all Schengen countries?

Jepp's text on Switzerland states this

1.2.1.1 Aerodromes of Entry/Exit
Aircraft landing on or departing from Swiss territory must first land at or finally take off from a customs aerodrome. These aerodromes are listed in section 3.3 Aerodromes with Customs Clearance.
Private aircraft with destination or arriving from abroad may also depart from or land at a limited number of other aerodromes. The competent customs office will decide on the appropriate clearance procedure.

and

1.2.2.1 Passport
Generally, for entry into Switzerland any person needs a valid passport showing the nationality of the holder.
For nationals of Austria, Belgium, France, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino and Spain a passport expired for less than five years is also sufficient.
For nationals of Germany, a passport expired for less than one year is also sufficient.
Nationals of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia and Spain may also produce a valid official identity card.

The above is dated Oct 2009.

When did Switzerland join Schengen? It does however appear completely irrelevant.

On a related topic:

Let's say you depart Country A for Country B. Both A and B require "Customs" airports to be used. For a case where the departure was from a non-Customs airport in A, is anyone aware of any case where B was interested?

I have never heard of such a case reliably. I have seen postings elsewhere claiming that B can fine you, but never was any detail supplied. And I can think of cases where the "non Customs" status of the departure aerodrome would be nontrivial to determine e.g. you departed there outside of Customs hours, or did not give the PNR notice (and it was an unmanned airfield).

So Germany only accepts no border controls from Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal. Or from all Schengen countries?

Really, this has nothing to do with flying and with you living in a country that is surrounded by EU states, I am surprised that you are not aware of the customs regulations. When you drive from Zurich to Germany in your car or you take the train, you are subject to customs as well. The German customs police (Zoll) drives around the streets close to Switzerland and performs checks. The same happens in every train that crosses the border.

Just to prevent you from making mistakes that you will regret, here's the German legal side of it. The law is called Zollverwaltungsgesetz (ZollVG).

§ 2 talks about the means of transport and states:

(2) Einfliegende Luftfahrzeuge dürfen nur auf einem Zollflugplatz landen, ausfliegende nur von einem solchen abfliegen.

"Arriving aircraft are only permitted to land at a customs airfield, departing may only leave from such an airfield."

The law defines "arrive" and "leave" as travelling between Germany and a non EU member. Now about what this can cost you:

(1) Ordnungswidrig im Sinne des § 382 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 der Abgabenordnung handelt, wer vorsätzlich oder fahrlässig

1. entgegen § 2 Abs. 1 Satz 1 eine Ware außerhalb einer Zollstraße einführt oder ausführt, entgegen § 2 Abs. 2 außerhalb eines Zollflugplatzes landet oder abfliegt, entgegen § 2 Abs. 3 Satz 1 außerhalb eines Zollandungsplatzes anlegt oder ablegt oder entgegen § 2 Abs. 3 Satz 2 auf einer Zollstraße mit anderen Fahrzeugen oder mit dem Land in Verbindung tritt,

§ 382 AO says that the fine is 5000 € if you do not carry anything subject to customs and 50 000 € if you actually do. If you do this regularly, you can assume they will construct a case that involves criminal intent.

So, if Colmar is out of the question due to being unavailable for Ultralights, why not choose Koblenz? Ideal location with beautiful scenery around, reasonable pricing and a greek restaurant on site.... mmm... hungry.... :-)

@ achimha

Thanks for looking that up. But now I am confused. Does this regulation apply only for the border crossing between Germany and Switzerland or also for al the other border crossings? Denmark - Germany or the Netherlands - Germany?

Oh and, I vote for Koblenz. :-)

Well, I admit that I am as close to feeling guilty as I am able - it always seemed self-evident to me that there would be most interest from the least expensive way of flying. But at closer looks I seem to be the only microlighter interested, while there's several IFR fliers around. So I won't object to Colmar, and if it is the choosen place, perhaps an exception could be gotten for me. And even if not, I could divert to Bremgarten just across the river - fabulous private collection of warbirds there, or so t'is said...

Still Koblenz seems perfect for everybody, and me too have been curious about that Greek restaurant.

While we would aim for VFR conditions and cancel if those are obviously unlikely (because most people here are VFR-only) I still think the airport should have instrument approaches, and I can't see any for Koblenz EDRK.

Nor can I see a nearby IFR airport which is close enough to EDRK (though this is not easy to check without local knowledge).

Even if the weather is perfect, most IFR-capable pilots will fly IFR because it is so much easier, and having an IAP avoids doing "silly stuff" in the terminal area if there is a layer of cloud about - as I mentioned earlier.

Does this regulation apply only for the border crossing between Germany and Switzerland or also for al the other border crossings? Denmark - Germany or the Netherlands - Germany?

AFAIK it applies only to Switzerland (whose non EU status makes its Schengen membership apparently irrelevant) and to Greece (which disregards what it signed). Elsewhere e.g. France < - > Germany you can fly from/to anywhere.

However I get the feeling that passport checks are going to come back where they have gone away. The EU is not as "friendly" as it was when plenty of money was sloshing around... Not that this matters; carrying an ID is irrelevant.

Sounds like there are plenty of good options for us all microlighters to IFR.