Venice - current situation?

[IO540]

Tessera now lists Avgas, which is new.

However, is this real?

I'll be going down that way in a couple of weeks.

Of course I will phone/fax them but often these big airports don't respond or the phone numbers in the AIP are ones on which nobody speaks English.

[Colonel Panic]

My very limited experience of Italian airfields and fuel is "doubt everyone", and have an alternative! The north of Italy is better than the south in this respect.
Not sure what you will be flying (I flew in with my Aztec with no problems), but I would THOROUGHLY recommend Venice San Nicolo LIPV, on the Lido. Superb grass strip, and when I went last summer, Avgas was readily available - but expensive.

[IO540]

San Nicolo has avgas but there are Customs issues depending on who you believe, where you are coming from, and where you are going. I abandoned a planned landing there in 2004 at the last minute, following a phone call.

I was going to check it out too - thank you.

[FullyFlapped]

IO,

I was given this line back in April. We'd landed at Bologna, and the intention was to then spend a night in Venice on the way back, so I checked (in writing) that they'd have both parking and AVGAS.

Just to be on the safe side, I got the guys at Bologna handling to call before we took off : guess what, no AVGAS and no parking ... San Nicolo was also out, because it was Monday (and an awful lot of them close on Mondays, as you probably know). We gave up, refuelled at Linate and came home.

Good luck, and let us know if you go, because I'd very much like to go back myself.

FF :ok:

[IO540]

Tessera it is then. Life is too short to mess around. I will phone them up to double-check avgas and........ pricing!

[AC-DC]

I would assume that you fly a capable aircraft. If you fly over Germany land in Swiss (no tax) and I was told that the same is in Slovania.

[IO540]

Capable plane yes, Working out CFMU acceptable routes down there is fun however (not) :)

Sometimes it's easier to fly VFR, but even there Italy is less co-operative than most. IME, only the UK is worse than Italy (or anybody else) for CAS transits.

[IO540]

I got a fax reply from Venice Tessera LIPZ:

"we are sorry but cannot accept this schedulation (sic) flight due parking problems and general aviation trafic congestion"

I wonder if an airport is allowed to refuse IFR traffic in this way?

The Jeppview 3 text pages data shows 2 HRS PPR. Curiously it also shows no Avgas - just like it used to in 2004 and 2005.

So I have tried to contact San Nicolo, so far no reply.

Trieste is another option; down the road from Venice. Last time I went there they were very nice.

[papazulu]

Why do not try Treviso? Close enough to Venezia, maybe cheaper and well connected with everywhere around. As an alternative there is Padova, AvGas there and perhaps customs, also well connected to surroundings. Superb small town indeed!

Register-free here for on-line AIP: http://www.enav.it/index2.html

And let me know if you need help: I can phone them for you,speaking they language...sigh! :E

Happy landing

PZ :ok:

[AfricanEagle]

I phoned Venice San Niccolò:

opening hours 900-1300 and 1400-1900 local time (closed on Mondays)
fuel currently unavailable until 25/9
fuel available after 26/9

If you are arriving/departing France/Germany/Austria/Slovenia no customs necessary: you only need to specify in box 18 of flightplan that pilot and pax have passports

http://www.enav.it/aip/aga/aga2-3/AGA3-117.pdf

If arriving/departing Switerzerland/Croatia customs can be done at Ronchi dei Legionari - Trieste or at Treviso

http://www.enav.it/aip/aga/aga2-3/AGA2-50.pdf
http://www.enav.it/aip/aga/aga2-3/AGA2-49.pdf

AE

[IO540]

Thank you all.

Treviso shows no avgas. Padova I will check out; no idea why I missed that one. Doing the fax right now.

Typical news about San Nicolo. Very different to what it should be "officially".

Edit: just got a phone call from a very kind man at San Nicolo. They have avgas next week onwards. Hard to know what to make of this...

[scooter boy]

Dear IO,
I will be heading to Venice in late September and would be interested to know how you get on.
Do you intend to route over or around the alps?

BTW Verona Villafranca have no avgas and Verona Boscomantico (smaller GA field) are not supposed to sell it to non based A/C but would help out if you really ran out of options.
Good luck,
SB

[acuba 290]

land in Swiss (no tax)

what does it mean, no tax? No landing fees?

[IO540]

Straight over the Alps, airways, FL150-180 as necessary.

I will try for cloud cover over the Alps to be SCT or better though :)

[scooter boy]

IO, What do you fly?
SB