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Technical stops and flight plan, and customs/immigration required?

Interesting Q. The GAR form is just the UK and a stop in the UK would be useful for only one purpose: clearing customs (not immigration). Also the UK is off the track for most intra-European flights.

I guess people flying into Europe from the USA might stop in the UK to clear customs, and then they need just Immigration at their next stop (which helps a bit but not much).

The UK stop and the GAR form submission must work for the purposes of customs clearance, yes. The customs (police, in practice) might not turn up to check you but that is no different to make a customs stop anywhere else and not be physically checked.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Two questions in case anyone knows the answer:
- can you do a technical stop at a NON-customs airport in Europe JUST for fuel?
- can you do a technical stop in the same country as departure, again JUST for fuel? Ie can I fly from A to B in Spain (clearing customs at A), then fly onto C outside the EU? (Assume for this question both A and B are customs airfields). I did this once in France (Cannes – Clermont – Oxford) but don’t know if it’s officially allowed

Thank you!

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Oxford EGTK

Land/go from non-customs definetly no even if someone in A/B tells you it is ok (as C may not be happy with it)

Land/go along two customs airfields, I guess why not? you just need ok from B, maybe they are happy with customs check at A? or they may turn up at B to check again?

Sometimes just phone call/email may do to “clear people immigration” at B, but no idea if that will do to “clear goods customs”, but let’s check that again after Oct31st :)

Last Edited by Ibra at 05 Sep 23:49
Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

Whether you can do this or not is material at somewhere like Malaga where there’s a €49 plus tax, per person, each way “security” charge.

If you have 4 people aboard, that’s the best past of €500 just to go land-side…

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Oxford EGTK

Ibra wrote:

Land/go from non-customs definetly no even if someone in A/B tells you it is ok (as C may not be happy with it)

Why? The “C” country has no say in how the “A”/“B” country handles its customs procedures. Before EU, I occasionally asked Swedish customs for permission to depart abroad from a non-customs airfield. I’m pretty sure they didn’t ask the destination country if that was ok with them.

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

Airborne_Again wrote:

Why? The “C” country has no say in how the “A”/“B” country handles its customs procedures

I said “may” but yes, the usual case is going UK to France under GAR or on the way back
But C still insist on using X-custom airport at FPL validation or refuse you to land at C on that basis…

Charlie wrote:

Whether you can do this or not is material at somewhere like Malaga where there’s a €49 plus tax, per person, each way “security” charge.

I think at Malaga it will be tricky to avoid $$ but good luck trying (as handling is mandatory and usually handlers use the customs card) but given those airports have permanent customs with no PNR, I think it is a non-event to ask customs to show at your aircraft but with handling it will be tricky…

Note some handlers at Almeria asked us on the phone for a similar 40E/pax to “help us see customs” before going to Morocco, we told them we know how to find them or how they find us in a big airport, they come one day later with -160E discount

(with no handling they do volentarly but when handling is mandatory they are hard to find )

Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

Ibra wrote:

But C still insist on using X-custom airport at FPL validation or refuse you to land at C on that basis…

Really? I’ve never had that. But, unlike you, my only european flying crossing shengen has been to/from the UK.

Last Edited by Noe at 06 Sep 10:48

I don’t understand this.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

You mean what I meant, or the fact that apparently some countries want you to have left from a customs airport?

Ibras post.

Of course one has to depart schengen from an immigration airport

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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