Do you guys get charged for an IFR departure?
Depends on the country and the airfield.
In the UK, it is customary to be charged for IFR approaches, In addition to landing fees. Some airfields charge only for training approaches in various variations (for example, at Biggin an approach coming off an airway, and any approach in IMC wih intend to land is free; Southend only charges for approaches with no landing, etc.). Some always charge.
In Germany, larger airfields have terminal charges, levied for both arrival and departure. they mostly apply VFR as well
France – normally nothing, all included in the landing fees.
Above 2,000kg MTOW, IFR en-route charges apply, but they only depend on the distance between origin and destination.
Just happen to be unlucky enough to visit an airport of small size with no airline traffic that wants to make up the cost of ownership of the airport via all sorts of fees. Its a municipal airport which is even worse. There are at least 100 workers there whose employers lease from the city and derive a good income for the businesses. So that millions of Euros are generated for the local economy of the city. A clean environmentally green business no less.
Thanks so there is no uniform code of conduct when it comes to charging for IFR, in or outbound traffic.
