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New IFR charge in Greece

A few weeks ago, I called in at Corfu for fuel and Customs etc on exit from Greece. The handling company (Skyserv in this case) charged €105.40 (€85 + VAT at 24%) for “Flight operations/slot management FSO”. (This was on top of the normal, expected handling. But it brought total cost to €148.80 for 90 minutes on the ground!)

I queried the charge, as I hadn’t paid it when arriving at Corfu the previous week. Apparently I had got lucky the previous time (it had been overlooked). They told me it is a new charge introduced in 2016, for IFR flights. The handler didn’t know whether cancelling IFR prior to starting the transition/IAP would avoid the charge, which would often be easy to do, with Greek weather, Also, unlike the daily landing fee in Greece, I was told it applies to each IFR flight. So VFR flying has a lot going for it!

TJ
Cambridge EGSC

This sounds bad. @petakas and @atmilatos may be able to have some input.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Well, there is indeed a customs fee for flights to or from outside the EU. This is on top of all the handling, parking and pax fees. It’s about 25 Euros per flight.

The rest seems to be this.

Last Edited by boscomantico at 02 Jul 11:44
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

Was TJ going outside the EU?

FYROM, Turkey, Serbia etc…

I didn’t have this at all September 2015, going Skiathos Corfu Corsica.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

Was TJ going outside the EU?

No – arrival flight from Megara LGMG and departure to Portoroz LJPZ. (So intra Schengen too)

The charge may be the one Boscomantico referenced, but it doesn’t seem to be. FWIW Skyserv staff at Corfu said it had been introduced in February this year.

TJ
Cambridge EGSC

Well, there is indeed a customs fee for flights to or from outside the EU. This is on top of all the handling, parking and pax fees. It’s about 25 Euros per flight.

Then it begs a question: how do they treat a flight from EU to EU, but with a technical stop in the middle (without crossing the customs border of a non-EU state), e.g. a fuel stop at LYBE or LYNI?

LKBU (near Prague), Czech Republic

IME, they treat that as non EU.

Makes sense because they have no way of knowing how long you will hang out there.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

@Peter, for an outbound flight from Greece, you can file EU to EU anyway, and, as far as I understand, a diversion outside the EU for a technical-only stop will not be a customs violation (may someone more knowledgeable correct me if necessary). On the other hand, on an inbound flight you can always prove it was only a technical landing.

LKBU (near Prague), Czech Republic

for an outbound flight from Greece, you can file EU to EU anyway, and, as far as I understand

I wouldn’t bet on that. As an example, it would mean that you have to tell the CAA guy at say, a small Greek island airport, that you are going to xy (within the EU), but from the flightplan data, he will know (everybody knows everything at these airports) that you are initially going to yz (outside the EU).

So, it will depend on the handling staff and the CAA guy “approving” the story that you will only be in transit at yz, thus effectively staying in the EU. I highly doubt it will work. All they are interested in is “where are you flying to now?”

Last Edited by boscomantico at 02 Jul 14:21
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

@TJ What aircraft did you fly with in Corfu when they charged you the IFR charge ?

Did they mention it as IFR charge or IFR slot charge ?

If it was the latter did THEY take care of the slot booking ?

Was the aircraft operator under AOC or private/Aeroclub ?

www.aopa.gr/Info has a paragraph towards the bottom about slots and GA with what AOPA knows up to now.

LGMG Megara, Greece
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