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UK to Malta LMML

Hey,

We’re flying from the U.K. to Malta over the next few weeks.

Does anyone have any tips on airports along Italy to stop at?

Getting an accurate picture of fees seems to be somewhat more time-consuming than I’m used to!

Currently looking at Oostende, Zurich, Bologna, Perugia, Salerno and Luca.

Luca is a painful one – €4 landing fees then quoted €150 for mandatory handling for a Cirrus. Ouch!

Any tips/local knowledge would be much appreciated :)

United Kingdom

Try Roma Urbe. Fees were quite reasonable. But is VFR field. Lots of detail on the PPLIR forum.

Also, I would forgo Zurich and use a much simpler Swiss airport like Lausanne, LSGL. Pure GA therefore minimum hassle, but has full immigration/customs.

Upper Harford private strip UK, near EGBJ, United Kingdom

Very little point in pointing someone to a site which is £80+ to access!

Lucca LIQL used to be pretty reasonable – about £40. I would contact the airport directly and verify this. It’s a sleepy little place with a few near-derelict hangars, IIRC.

Indeed Zurich will be pricey too; I paid about £200 in 2009 so it will be more today. Switzerland has many more airports which are ok for GA and reasonably priced.

Lausanne is fine.

I know this is a bit off-route for Malta but in general it is much easier to “go south” via the Croatian coast than via Italy. Croatia has great airports, GA friendly and straightforward.

OTOH with a plane with a decent range (as an SR22 is) you can do longer legs. In this case I suspect the OP doesn’t want to, otherwise he would not be doing so many stops.

For example Dubrovnik to Malta is about 500nm
LOKRU P748 AIOSA P748 BANAV T527 TOPNO P748 AMANO M742 PAL L12 GZO
That’s an IFR route but a similar route can be flown VFR if you do the usual due diligence…

An you end up with great places to stay enroute, down the Adriatic.

Luca LMML in Malta is likely to be pricey though. A search here on LMML digs out for example this and another pilot went there in September 2017 after our Greek meetup – here.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

LawrenceDudley wrote:

Luca is a painful one – €4 landing fees then quoted €150 for mandatory handling for a Cirrus

I didn’t pay any handling on a SR22 last summer. Had to pay some passenger fees, IIRC maybe around 6-10 euros / pax.

Hey,

Sorry, should have added a few more details – Zürich makes sense as I have family there. It’ll be a fun experience and I can stomach the fees for that one I think. It’s a big airport, I do sort of expect them there.

If anyone is tempted by Zürich by the way bear in mind you need to do a training course (online) prior to booking in. Takes an hour or so to complete. I believe the flying school/club there offer handling at a not totally outrageous given the location (sub-£200) rate.

Croatia isn’t a bad shout, need to speak to SWMBO about it. Italy in general does sound like its a bit of a faff having had a good read of the fliegen in italien website (sadly German-only!).

The stops are so I can sell it as a holiday to my other half rather than a mad flying adventure.

Lausanne would be a great shout but it’s really far away from where I want to be in Switzerland :-(

Noe – thanks for the heads up about the possibility of getting away without handling in Malta. Did you do anything special? Or did you manage to slip through the net somehow?

Going to go and look at Croatia now…

United Kingdom

Re Zurich: Charges have changed massively in the last year! The trouble there is not really the fees anymore but you need to get a slot in and out.

Handling: MFGZ Handling would be whom to talk to. They charge around CHF 70 per rotation (in and out) for <2000kg. Pricelist
Slot: You can check on this site: LSZH Slot Page which gives you the possibilities for slots and whom to call. MFGZ can arrange the slot for you or you can call yourself.

Re the charges, I just checked my recent bill, which should be identical for a SR22 and one landing and departure should be around CHF 35 for landing and 0.80 per hour without night hours (23-06LT) for parking. Passenger Charges are around 18.- CHF per outbound pax.

You can calculate it here: Charges Calculator

Be sure to set the Flight Type on the top of the page properly: Non Commercial Flight via GAC with <24 pax. Also check the arrival and departure times carefully to get a correct quote.

For an airport this size this is not very much at all.

So the things to think about is the online training, slot request (max 24 hours before) and handling request to MFGZ. Other than that, let me know when you are coming and if possible I might drop in and say hello.

Last Edited by Mooney_Driver at 11 Jul 14:27
LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

Mooney_Driver wrote:

For an airport this size this is not very much at all.

Wow! I just tried this for fun with a C210 and two pax and got a charge of CHF 68 / EUR 58. This is amazingly cheap for a European airport that size. What I didn’t see on the calculator is transport from and to the airplane. It’s been many, many years, but I vaguely recall the ‘Little Guys’ being parked in the middle of the field somewhere. I’m sure Mooney can confirm.

Roma Urbe is VFR, but you can fly the IAP at Ciampino and cancel IFR when in VMC and proceed to Urbe – see AIP AD2. It’s a good stop and 20 mins in a cab to central Rome.

Salerno is also a good tech stop, with spectacular views (Vesuvius). Then the route to Malta takes you past Etna.

NeilC
EGPT, LMML

172driver wrote:

What I didn’t see on the calculator is transport from and to the airplane.

Basically you can be parked in Sector I or 3. Both are possible to walk but you need the handling / escort or they can drive you. Handling cost is around CHF 70.- and is obligatory, so you have to pay that in any event.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

Mooney_Driver, are you about Sunday/Monday? Could do with picking someone local’s brains on the alps routes.

Just need to hope my aircraft’s ok, had to leave it at Gamston today with an ignition problem :-(

United Kingdom
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