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?
Well, it's all clearly written in the law and I've already answered your question. Quoting myself:
The law defines "arrive" and "leave" as travelling between Germany and a non EU member.
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.
The Danish nationalists tried to bring back border controls ca 2 years ago. After the EU threatened with a treaty violation suit, they repented. There are a few exceptions where temporary border checks are permissible within Schengen (summits, football tournaments, extraordinary circumstances) and there seems to be a tendency to have more of these extraordinary circumstances. However, the law is clearly on our side -- regular border controls are prohibited.
Colmar ticks all the boxes for me
Been to Colmar this summer.
Great place, low landing fees, the city is very close (10-11 euros fixed taxi fare if you pick the right company).
Denmark is EU, UK is EU, Germany is EU, but Switzerland isn't. It is the same thing with cars.
This is the answer I got from German customs a few weeks ago: The only way to get around this is to declare an emergency.
Dear Mr Doerr,
If your company does not have an authorization granted by a main customs office which exempts you from using a customs airport (German: Zollflugplatz), you - coming from Switzerland - have to land on a customs airport or on a specially authorized airport (German: besonderer Landeplatz), article 38 of Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92, article 2 of the German Zollverwaltungsgesetz and article 3 and 2 of the German Zollverordnung.
Non-compliance results in a customs debt and tax debt according to article 202 of Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 (unlawful introduction into the customs territory of the Community) and article 21 of the German Umsatzsteuergesetz. Nevertheless article 212a of same regulation has to be considered: exemptions from duty may be granted (i.e. for returned goods), provided that the unlawful introduction was not made deliberately or strongly negliently.
In addition -at least- a fine for an administrative office may be taken, article 31 paragraph 1 No. 1 of the German Zollverwaltungsgesetz.
For legal reasons this information can only be given to the best of our knowledge and is non-binding.
Yours sincerely
We did a weekend fly-out to Colmar this summer which was organised via my local flying-club. If I recall correctly we went there with a total of 12 planes 2 of which were ultra-lights.
I can join the recommendations on Colmar: Nice city with lots of historical architecture, plenty of hotels to choose from and excellent restaurants. We did a guided walk through the historic town which was very enjoyable.
The field is close to the city centre, it took us about 10 mins by taxi to get there. Landing fees were reasonable, I think I paid 14 EUR for a plane with 1.400KG MTOW. One should pay the landing fees directly upon arrival, if possible, as the desk for this is not always manned (especially during lunch hours) which could lead to delays on departure. Fuel was a bit cheaper compared to Germany.
As a further alternative, about 5 mins away from Colmar is Freiburg (EDTF) which shares the same attributes as Colmar (city, hotels, restaurants and location of field) but is a VFR-only field.
Never been to Koblenz I must admit, so I quite like to go there.
Nearest IFT-field seems to be Frankfurt-Hahn (EDFH) which is called that way only for marketing purposes as it is anywhere but near Frankfurt. Distance from Hahn to Koblenz is ca. 80km and no public transport so one would need to rent a car.
Thanks all, I understand better now.
This also helped me:
Has anybody mentioned Reims Prunay, LFQA?
Those who have flown to Colmar - what is the R/T like? I flew into France once and was horrified to hear mainly French on the airfield frequency - I don't like the idea of flying into an airfield's area of operations without having a clue where the traffic is because I don't understand the language spoken. What made things worse that the airfield refused to answer calls in english even though the pilot (I wasn't PIC at the time) claimed to have PPR'd the place and been informed that use of english on approach was ok, they would advise him of the locations of the local traffic........ which they then didn't.......
Koblenz DOES however advise of traffic in the circuit if you're transmitting in english and there are germans flying, which is why I'd still put my two cents forward for that location: however I would also look at heading to Colmar as well if they are open to giving such service......
Colmar R/T is no worse than many German airfields I have visited where they insisted on German language only :) I have never had to resort to Franglais at Colmar. They have always spoken excellent English in my experience
Keep in mind that outside of ATS hours, Colmar is French only. Not having an endorsement for French in your license is a violation of the regulation. Typically ATS is closed during the weekend.
