Landing after closing time...

@what next: allow me to disagree for this once. Well that is to say, I am not saying you are wrong: German law does make life hard for aerodrome operators – though I understand there is not an absolute and total obligation to have a “Flugleiter” permanently present. Actually I think it is in the average German mindset that there must be someone in charge, always, everywhere – German tradition is quite contrary to the spirit of self-responsability that makes life so much easier in France, and not more dangerous.

And later on you have confirmed what I said: it depends on the a/d operator, essentially. Even if in Germany they have less headroom.

If I want to return to my (controlled) airfield after closing time:

• If I ask, they will stay open for me, but charge the earth for doing so. Diverting to London Heathrow would be cheaper.
• If I don’t ask, airfield security (H24) will spot me and report me to the airfield operator who will then ban me from the airfield.

In the UK at smaller GA fields it tends to be linked to neighbourliness. Last week I had landings at five UK airfields out of hours – I did request permission, and basically the understanding was that I would keep the noise footprint to a minimum and not take off until the next day. One airport has an out of hours form which needed filling.

This was in a private aircraft flying privately – a club aircraft may probably require for insurance purposes some kind of attendance at the field.

There are several aspects to this why in Germany you may not land on an unmanned airfield : Some say there once was a Third Reich law controlling emigrating jews and in consequence for each start and landing a controller had to be present to enter all activity in the records. This law was never thrown out if it was ever there. So still all activities are recorded on airfields with real aircraft, ultralights on their specific grass landing sites are not concerned. For a while local aircraft operators could ask for a permanent arrangement at their airfield for extension to operating hours and put paper notes in the tower mailbox for each late landing etc. . Reason is that the airfield organisation wants and has to get all landings recorded to charge you monthly. Certainly noise abatement aspects are another topic why operating hours are preferred. Some years ago this arrangement was changed with more restrictions reasoning that for all activities someone at the airfield had to be present to operate the fire equipment in case of an accident. And this is now the argument why the airfield has to be manned. Sure , someone from the restaurant with “appropriate training” could do the fire fighter job as well. But in the end the airfield operator has to approve . So there are still several airfields accessible unmanned. No problem to ask for an early start or late landing PPR but this will cost you.

Is there a concept of licensed and unlicensed airfields in Germany (i.e. unlicensed = uncontrolled and without fire services, but recognised as an official aerodrome).

Threads like this one make me appreciative of the freedom we pilots in the US enjoy. I could count on one hand the number of airports in the US that have a closing time. The vast majority of airports are unattended or at best have a unicom at the local operator with typical attendance during daylight hours. Most airports with runway lights are pilot operated after the operator turns them off (usually automatically after a certain time). Even most towered airports are not manned 24/7 and when the tower is closed, we treat the airport just like any unattended airport but use the tower frequency as the CTAF (Common Traffic Advisory Frequency). I have often left early in the morning before the tower is operating or landed after the tower closed. Big whoop.

Is there a concept of licensed and unlicensed airfields in Germany…

Not exactly like that. There is a “hierarchy” among airfields that goes like this, but all of them must be “licensed” as it is verboten to land on “unlicensed” ground with powered aeroplanes – helicopters with special permission apart:

Verkehrsflughafen (Airport)
Sonderflughafen (Special airport, there are only three: ETSI, EDMO and EDTL)
Verkehrslandeplatz (Landing Site)
Sonderlandeplatz (Special landing site)
Segelfluggelände (Gliding site)

Microlighting fields are apart, but they too need some kind of license.

Threads like this one make me appreciative of the freedom we pilots in the US enjoy.

I was of course expecting that But as long as they don’t give me a greed card and permit me to work there, I am forced to take what I can get here. And there are a lot of differences that cannot be overcome by adjusting rules. Central Europe is more than ten times as densely populated as the United States, distances are generally a lot smaller, public transport is available almost everywhere – therefore we do not require that much “freedom of the air” because here, one man’s freedom will quickly become one hundred men’s nuisance.

Apparently it was one of the neighbors calling the police about an aircraft landing after closing time…

We get this all the time even if we land somewhere with officially extended opening hours. I remember last year we landed at ETSI (a large military base with civilian co-usage) shortly after midnight. By the time we had taxied in some idiot had already called the airfield and threatened “I will shoot at the next airplane that flies over my house tonight!” Unfortunately the guy called with hidden caller ID, otherwise he would have gotten a visit from the police. But this is the situation in many places, so don’t expect too much enthusiasm when asking for extended opening times!