I think all UK airports become unlicensed runways with out-of-hour indemnity (the case for night arrival in Stapleford, Elstree, Redhill and no one around not sure about others)
It’s what you can get with 30£ fee 
UK licenced airfields can be used day VFR with no-one present with an out-of-hours indemnity.
I meant CAA licenced airfields, AG is UK term, it does not exist in other countries
Licensed airfields in Sweden don’t need any of these
Same in France, licenced runways don’t require ATS and are open for VFR & IFR operations including at night
Ibra wrote:
Licensed airfields need ATC, AFIS or AG during opening hours anyway, so having PCL is odd?
That again is different in different countries. Licensed airfields in Sweden don’t need any of these, although obviously they are then restricted to VFR ops. They also sometimes have PCL – including airports with part-time ATC.
Do you know examples having lights with SMS system?
Of course, but I am not going to post them There are off the shelf products for this purpose, although remote control by SMS is pretty common; even I used to make such a box.
I don’t know that many strips with lights that are open to non-visitors,
Most “strips” are by invitation.
Licensed airfields need ATC, AFIS or AG during opening hours anyway
Not actually so (in the UK) because you can be unlicensed during certain hours, but that’s another topic.
During unlicensed hours, I am not sure how much of that is true or myth but yes empirically it looks like regulator or aerdromes are not keen on installing PCL…Redhill (ATC) & Fairoaks (AFIS) are licensed and have PCL for out of hours without ATS (night circuits are prohibited)
Those airfields are closely watched and pressured by the CAA, due to large airport proximity. Even Shoreham is a “machine gun target” due to the high political visibility Hunter crash (which was completely irrelevant to Shoreham).
On the original topic, it remains interesting what the actual regulation is, or even if there is one. I reckon that in most countries there isn’t one and it is purely down to what the landowner is happy with. Out of political necessity, EASA has very limited jurisdiction when it comes to ground ops, so it will be country-dependent.
And no lights are legally needed; you could operate with an image intensifier system like NVGs use. The SR22 option does image intensification overlaid with thermal. Thermal alone would not be effective for locating a grass strip, but would probably work for tarmac. But NVGs need special training.
Private strips often have PCL but unofficial, using SMS.
Do you know examples having lights with SMS system?
I don’t know that many strips with lights that are open to non-visitors, Fowlmere does have temporary lights installed during winter, I recall someone switch lights ON/OFF (Sandown does it but only for late night departures after the barbecue)
In the UK, a Licensed airfield is not allowed to have PCL publicly. For many years it was not realised (and the CAA deliberately propagated the myth) that Unlicensed airfields could have it
Licensed airfields need ATC, AFIS or AG during opening hours anyway, so having PCL is odd?
During unlicensed hours, I am not sure how much of that is true or myth but yes empirically it looks like regulator or aerdromes are not keen on installing PCL…Redhill (ATC) & Fairoaks (AFIS) are licensed and have PCL for out of hours without ATS (night circuits are prohibited)
Private strips often have PCL but unofficially, using SMS. These strips are H24 because there is no regulation saying otherwise. In some cases, if they have planning permission, they may be limited, but most UK strips are running under the 28 day rule, avoiding the additional scrutiny which a planning application would entail.
In the UK, a Licensed airfield is not allowed to have PCL (lighting controlled by clicks on the airfield VHF frequency) publicly. For many years it was not realised that Unlicensed airfields could have it The CAA deliberately propagated the “lack of knowledge” for decades.
I presume private airports can install PCL, although it is likely expensive and would need FAA approval for the frequency, etc.
What about private aerodromes? can they install PCL? do they need “night certification”?
Say UT25 Monument Valley airport
In the US, even if the airport is non towered or the tower is closed, the lights are pilot activated. The rotating beacon is on all night and usually you click 5 times on the Unicom frequency (or tower frequency) to turn on the lights. At my airport, 3, 5, or 7 clicks turns on the MALSR and runway lights at low, medium, or high intensity and they stay on for 15 minutes.
