Hello,
I’d love to go to Croatia from France with a few friends in June. Istria looks like a nice destination, as close as Corsica, with quite a few airfields with customs and AVGAS.
I was more particularly interested in Otok Unije airfield, where we’d plan to go after clearing customs in Pula or Losinj, but couldn’t find any recent information about it. Does any of you know if it is still open (read over the internet that according to the airport manager in Losinj, Unije is definitely closed, while other people claim it’s still open)?
For those of you who have already been flying VFR in Croatia, do you think it’s possible to go direct to Pula from Venezia / Lido, or one would have to go through Slovenia, and then follow one of the VFR routes?
Thanks for your insight!
Benoît
Unije is closed.
You can fly from Lido to Pula across Adriatics directly but flying SEP maybe you would be more comfortable along the coast.
AFAIK, you might still be able to use Unije with an ultralight (with permission of the site owner), since ultralights don’t require the use of certified airfields in Croatia. But other than that, yes, it’s been closed unfortunately.
Re the routing: sure you can fly direct. Why not? If you don’t mind the long distance over water..
Suggest ROTAR as your waypoint for the FIR crossing. You will need a clearance for Venezia CTR though, unless you want to stay very low over the (still cold) water. Best let Lido AFIS know and ask them via radio if they can pre-advise Venezia Radar that you will be looking for a transit of the CTR once leaving the Lido ATZ.
Hello,
Thanks for all these answer! The croatian authorities have been pretty helpful, I contacted the croation CAA and they told me than Unije is closed, but I can ask for a special landing permission… And of course i’ll try to contact Venezia ASAP in order to request a clearance through the CTR. But I heard they’re not always super helpful with VFR flights, so I might end up low over water…
Benoit
