One more easter trip report

Here is one more easter trip report. We were not flexible with the date this time, it had to be the week after easter and this turned out to be a bit difficult, as the best weather was forecast for southern Germany Staying at home was not an option so we ended up flying to Ajaccio (LFKJ), Bari (LIBD) and Zadar (LDZD), always trying to escape the rain.

Easter trip

Actually we wanted to fly to Bastia (LFKB), we hadn’t visited that corner of the island before, but there is a NOTAM that they have no Avgas. So we opted for Ajaccio, the only place that has rental cars and Avgas which we hadn’t been to before. (There is also currently no Avgas at Calvi (LFKC).)

The flight was eventless, we were able to cross the Alps directly at level 180.

Lake Constance

Lake Lucerne

Corsica

Ajaccio is typical French regional airport. It was friendly and efficient if a little more expensive than others. We payed 74 Euros in total, including two nights of parking. GA parking is on a separate apron from where it’s not allowed to walk on your own.

We took the car and crossed the island towards Bastia. It proved to be a nice area.

Bastia

Elba in the distance

As the bad weather was approaching Corsica we looked for a place to fly to and the very southeast of Italy looked reasonable. We have very little experience with Italy so we consulted Bosco’s excellent site (in German). Contracting handling is mandatory in LIBD but otherwise it looked reasonable. It’s a big airport, but rental cars were readily available. However, things change quickly. According to the AIP there are two agents providing handling there, so we asked for quotes with both of them. The one that apparently was good when Bosco visited, wasn’t that good anymore. Delta Airtaxi asked fore more than 500 Euros for the service, while it was only 100 with Air Services. In the end we payed 110 Euros all together with five days parking. There is no PPR for landing and the handler deals with the airport for parking. However, the huge apron was almost empty when we were there.

For the flight to Bari we decided to stay below the clouds at FL110 but it was quite hazy. ATC in Italy was good. They spoke good English and gave sensible directs before we could ask for them.

While the landscape in Puglia isn’t the most beautiful in Italy (at least to my taste) we really enjoyed the towns and cities. We visited Bari, Monopoli, Alberobello, Locorotondo, Otranto, Lecce, Matera, Gravina and Trani – I would recommend all of them.

Matera

Gravina

Parco nazionale dell‘Alta Murgia

Trani

Again bad weather was on its way so we had to move on. Zadar was forecast best along the Dalmatien coast so this was our next destination. It has big and busy airport and there were quite a few aircraft parked on the GA apron. You have to write a mail to an address provided in the AIP before you can fly there but the reply comes within a few minutes. We payed 86 Euros totally for two nights.

The flight over the Adriatic Sea was short and trouble free but it was very hazy again. That was a pity, of course, the islands are beautiful from the air but almost invisible this time.

The city of Zadar is nice and friendly but an afternoon is actually enough for a visit. We found Split more spectacular when we visited a couple of years ago.

On the way to Zadar

Zadar

Departing Zadar

Crossing the Alps directly was not possible on the day we flew home, there was convection above FL250. We had to fly almost to Vienna and climb to FL200 but except for the hiccup with German ATC described in another thread, it was uneventful.