San Sebastian (LESO)

Sorry, no plan But you’ll miss a nice approach:

This was the mail from LESO OPS:

Hola , respecto a sus preguntas

-Aterrizaje 13 € aprx
-parking por dia 1,56 + 20% iva

-viniendo de LECU no es necesario contratar Handling

-A día de hoy tienen plaza libre en el parking, si están interesados envíen mensaje para reserva

-Nota: deberán empujar la avioneta desde la zona de parada de motores hasta el stand asignado

Saludos
Leso ops

Edit: Sorry, forgot to translate the bold part over formating the post coming from LECU it is not necessary to contract Handling so this was the reason.

If you were coming from near Bordeaux, why did they make you clear customs? (And at a French airport to boot).

I have just returned to Bournemouth (EGHH) from San Sebastian (LESO), and confirm that LESO are now allowing extra Schengen flights. As previously reported, if the flight is out of the Schengen area, then handling from Iberia is mandatory.

The minimum charge from Iberia was EUR 132.99 plus EUR 30 each way if you take their mini bus to the terminal, which is perfectly walkable. AENA airport fees came to EUR 111.59 including three days parking, which was reasonable. Taxi into town from the airport was cica EUR 30 each way.

I used to live in San Sebastain as a child, and still have relatives there, so it was a special trip for me, one which I thoroughly enjoyed. I requested and got a visual approach through the valley West of the town, and my passengers – all family got a visual treat.

As a backup I had a slot arranged at Biarritz (LFBZ), which would have been cheaper for the aircraft costs, but if you add in the cost of a hire car, since it is considerably further than LESO, (Taxi circa EUR 70 each way) the overall costs would have been similar or even slightly more expensive.

Airport contact : LESO operacionesEAS(AT)aena.es
Iberia LESO: eascicops(AT)iberia.es

I had a stonking tail wind for a change and joined the 300 Kt club.

Went there recently. There s a weird and rather stupid new rule which imposes to stop the engine on a red square a few meters from the actual parking area. From. There on you have to pull your plane to the parking stand assigned by the tower. Same thing before departing
I investigated about that
-aro people told me that the rule was to insure that the planes were correctly parked, since there are only 14 stands
But the lady recongnized that It was quite an idiot way to do it. If you have to park at stand 8 you can park with the engine on , whats the problem? And in 30 years of flying in spain I never saw more than 3 GA planes parked at the same time in LESO.
- when asked what happend if i started the engine before pulling te plane by hand till the red square, she told me : I can t see you from here so officially. I don t know what you re doing" and she kindly suggested me to deal with the tower. In other words I will close 2 eyes…
- when asked How could I pull my 2 ton seneca alone and in a slightly uphill parking stand, she told me that I COULD contract a handling company if inable to move the plane
Resuming;| since they cannot legally force you to contract a handler, with this stupid rule they kind of force you to do it anyway and pay for it. A very miserable way to welcome. GA at LESO
When I flew out, there was a german twin in the same situation so we helped each other pull the 2 planes and got away without being forced to pay the handling tax.

situation i deteriorating and all the mediterranean belt is off limits unless you pay an expensive handling fee. That goes for valencia, alicante, almeria. Spain used to be fair and welcoming. I. cannot say the same right now.

I did not encounter this problem, although the airport plates do mention this procedure. We were directed directly to the parking bay, which incidentally was under the tower, and self powered out of there.
E

they made us land in Biarritz to clear customs …. and get ramp checked…grrrr

That is not for certain. You need to take off at a sensible time. Luch time is a good idea. I wasn’t ramp checked there.

How about departing early, say 8-9am local? That, and arriving lunchtime is usually what I do and maybe that is why I never got hit.

A friend got the ‘full treatment’ 1 month ago at Biarritz, aircraft vaccumed for drugs/ explosives,
every piece of paper relating to the aircraft minutely analyzed followed by a breathalyzer test at
11am in the morning.

Is it a wonder that this place is avoided like the plague?

Can you imagine the reception EEL would have had coming from Thailand!

It has been posted here that there is a “airport policeman” training facility at LFBZ, hence the frequent attention.

Very interesting post from EAL too, that one can fly to/from the UK to San Seb LESO, albeit at a hefty cost for the “extra service”