“Exit Customs” meant customs and immigration. You could depart CH to anywhere, IIRC.
Buckerfan wrote:
If you love Switzerland, Switzerland will love you back. If you spend your time grumbling about the place, then forget about it.
This is really true with any country one might migrate to, isn’t it? As an American living in the Netherlands, I am constantly hearing expats grumble about stuff they can’t find from home, or how rude people are, or their doctor won’t order an MRI just because they googled it and think they need one. Then there are people like me who find it a wonderful place to live and enjoy discovering the differences and learning new perspectives. It’s all about your attitude, and if you come into a certain experience predisposed to negativity, your brain will simply look for ways to confirm that and—guess what? You will see negative things everywhere.
The same is true here. Switzerland is not the US, nor is it Poland or anywhere else. Europe is not the US when it comes to GA, and it never will be. I could complain that it’s more expensive, requires more planning, has more bureaucracy (which is not always the case), etc., and my experience would be quite sour. Or I can marvel that in one hour of flying I can be in at least 5 different countries. I can have pie and mash, or a nice currywurst, or be sitting on a French beach eating crepes. From my former GA-friendly home base of Atlanta, in the same time I could get to Birmingham, Alabama or Greenville, South Carolina. I’ll pay the higher prices and spend an extra few minutes on flight planning, thank you.
I’ve also flown to and from Switzerland, Norway, the UK, etc., and the extra steps required would never deter me from flying, even if I had to do them for every flight. As a percentage of the total amount of time I spend on all my flying activities, it’s trivial.
Well said @dutch_flyer
Anyone has the relevant legislation in Switzerland that lot of airfields are usable intra-Schengen? of course subject to customs being notified using the ‘nothing to declare’ GENDEC or customs phone application for declaration
From FOCA website this very interesting, does this apply to ‘CH aircraft inbound’ or ‘EU aircraft outbound’? also do they mean ‘whole aircraft gets imported’? NFW?
You have used QuickZoll to clear maintenance and repair work on a domestic aircraft used exclusively for private flights. An item – the aircraft – is always imported in the case of maintenance or repair work. This means that maintenance and repair work (including fitted new materials) costing more than CHF 300 is always subject to VAT, regardless of how many people are in the aircraft. (maintenance flights can use CatD airports or CatC airports depending on their invoicing)
It’s obvious one should ‘not bend anything’ when traveling abroad but ‘whole aircraft imported’ NFW? I recall requesting quotes to repair a retractable gear of N-reg C177RG in Bahamas, that brought extra papers for extra taxes but it was the cost of repairs not whole aircraft, we just flew it gear down all the way to US like C172 
Hallo.
So, going to BASIC….
(Pilots and pax only, no goods)
Italy to Swiss.
Custom required on departure, not requested on arrival.
Swiss to Italy.
No custom requiem on departure. Custum requiem on arrival.
Is this correct?
Thankyou
diego3v wrote:
Italy to Swiss.
Custom required on departure, not requested on arrival.Swiss to Italy.
No custom requiem on departure. Custum requiem on arrival.
No! Of course you need to clear customs in Switzerland. Who said otherwise?
(Pilots and pax only, no goods)
There is no assured “no goods” status. You have a plane, for a start And you have the €5k Breitling on your wrist
This means that if somebody doesn’t like you, or you failed to comply with some rule, they can always get you.
Switzerland must operate the principle of temporary and permanent import. Without that, international aviation is impossible.
Switzerland will not (?) be subject to the Brussels requirement for all airports to offer Customs if you have “nothing to declare”, mentioned above. So compliance must be a combination of a) the right airport and b) giving the required PN.
“no goods” is a bit vague and not totally accurate.
Besides pilot and pax (neither requiring visa), here are the allowed goods. This is essentially equivalent to the green door at a customs airport.
“Permitted goods
3.1 The following are permitted on board aircraft:
a. Equipment belonging to the aircraft
b. Used personal effects of passengers and crew
c. Travel provisions in the amount of one day’s supply per person
d. Tobacco products, alcoholic beverages within the allowances and other goods within the value limits.
3.2 If other goods are on board, the departure or landing must take place via a customs airport.”
There are additional considerations related to aircraft maintenance that might also apply, but are not relevant for a normal tourist flight.
Almost all Swiss airfields accept Intra-Schengen flights on PNR/PPR basis. Most of these airfields require 1-2 hrs PNR for outbound flights, based on ETD and 2-3 hrs PNR for inbound flights, based on ETA. There are exceptions of course, as some airfields offer only customs to home-based pilots. Just a very few grass airfields, mostly glider-only places, don’t offer customs at all.
The definition of “goods” and “no goods” to declare is clearly defined by Swiss customs, see also this page: https://www.bazg.admin.ch/bazg/en/home/documentation/publications/information-brochures.html
Since the “QuickZoll”-App has been introduced, you can even pay import fees by the app before departure and then fly legally to smaller aerodromes, which have only a “no goods” status. This is a dealbreaker for those, how want to import stuff into Switzerland, but don’t want to make a stopover at an official customs airport.
boscomantico wrote:
Grenchen, Lausanne and Les Eplatures with PN only.
This is indeed the correct list of all Swiss aerodromes with official customs and immigration status, accepting flights from both Intra- and Extra-Schengen.
boscomantico wrote:
No one would go to Switzerland for just 26% more. Usually has to be at least 50% more to account for the high cost of living, although that obviously depends on the starting point.Correct, 50% more is a absolute must compared to e.g. Germany. Better is even 100% more (doubling your net salary). It also depends on the place where you want to live in Switzerland. Geneva and Zurich are the most expensive places to start with, and also Zug for housing due cheap taxes. Other places like Jura or Valais are way cheaper to live, but salaries at local employers are lower as well.
Alluding to the vastly overbuilt concrete poured flatlands, the daily increase in traffic jams, the deforested plains and hills, or the mountains with fast receding glaciers spoiled by power cables/luxury hotels/condos/ski slope trenches. Switzerland is on the verge of becoming the first country that morphed into a city.I actually don’t understand this hate towards your own country, but the grass seems always greener on the other side. I can tell you, there are many more countries with much bigger problems regarding traffic jams, deforested plains, concrete-poured flatlands etc. Each country may have its problems, and not everything in Switzerland is great, but so have other countries their problems and issues. Personally, I think Switzerland is one of the best places to live. But thanks to Schengen, each Schengen citizen can move to any other Schengen-country of their choice, without much hassle. You can even continue working in Schengen-country A and live in country B. Our freedoms are not limited nowadays, instead, it has increased more than many years before, thanks to projects like the Schengen-Agreement.
Firstly, you have to understand that the swiss treat each other as unwelcome from time to timeYes, but it’s also often just joking and should not be taken too seriously. It also disappears more among the younger generations, due globalization and raising among other nationalities. In general, Switzerland is actually a liberal country. But they have some rules, in order to keep things well-organized.
So sure, if you think that you are going to arrive and be best friends with the grumpy Swiss nationalist farmer up the hill.In my personal experience, it’s actually quite the opposite. Those people living in the mountains are more friendly and open, as many people think. As always and everywhere: Treat others the way you want to be treated yourself.
Frans wrote:
There are exceptions of course, as some airfields offer only customs to home-based pilots.
Really, how does that work, legal resident based pilot? tourist based pilot? two pilots? home based aircraft only? visiting aircraft? no goods? no passengers? I was told a similar myth while ago like that in France: as it turns out Sion was OK from/to Toussus side as far as customs are concerned…
I think what you mean is CH-residents pob flying CH-based aircraft with no goods (or CH-goods that are already declared via app or paper), that case, I would clearly understand, in a nutshell,
1) EU-residents flying CH-aircraft/goods outbound is called ‘export’ irrespective if you like it or not
2) CH-residents flying EU-aircraft/goods inbound is called ‘import’ irrespective if you like it or not
3) EU-residents flying EU-aircraft/goods inbound/outbound is called ‘temporary admission’ or ‘short trip’
4) CH-residents flying CH-aircraft/goods is called ‘home base’
Obviously, 1) & 2) require paper and money to be paid
Obviously, 4) require no form and no money
It’s on 3) where things are tricky this require paper only and no money (otherwise aviation will stop working tomorrow) but it’s not as trivial as one thinks, your are ‘posting a bond’ as you cross the border: try taking aircraft inside trailer, leaving it with maintenance after crash or exit the country without flying it back with you
