Hi folks

I am playing with the idea of flying to the Champagne region of France for the weekend and was hoping that I might get some recommendations of airfields where I might land.

Ideally, I am looking for an airfield that is within a short taxi ride of a picturesque town/village with a nice hotel and in close proximity to the vineyards/wineries. Usual tourist stuff...

Failing that, an airport with a car hire facility on site so we can go further afield. I note the Reims is closed to civilian traffic for 6months, so that rules that out...

Any recommendations welcome!

Thanks

rmdr2

Most of the champagne vineyards are in close proximity to Reims and Epernay, so that limits you to those two airfields. Reims-Champagne (LFSR) is first and foremost a French Air Force base (Base Aerienne 112) therefore private light aircraft are never really welcome there!

For GA traffic, head to Reims-Prunay (LFQA), SE of the city. (Incidentally, that's where the Reims-Aviation facility is located). It has an AFIS but out of hours, this reverts to A/A therefore all comms have to be made in French. Same goes for Epernay (LFSW), 10nm South, which uses the common frequency 123.5 (or Unicom as the Yanks call it); all auto-info and circuit calls in French.

Check out the French AIP website for relevant airfield charts:
SIA - La référence en information aéronautique (http://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/html/frameset_aip_fr.htm)

Cheers :cool: