C172 to Majorca

[VFR Transit]

Just a few questions to help me on the way to planning this trip.

with the airlines the security is a nighmare and was wondering if this would effect my flight, so could anyone help and offer advice on teh following.

1. With the USA and most of the EU Advance Passenger Information is given to the Spainish Gov by the airlines before they travel, does the same apply to GA? (apart from the flight plan)

2. Hand baggage restrictions on Gels, Pastes and Liquids, does the same apply to private flights in GA Aircraft?

sorry of these are silly question, but as this is the first long trip for me, i would want to make sure it's legal.

Cheers
VFR

[Captain Stable]

No, it won't effect your flight.

It might, however, affect your flight.

[TheOptimist]

'Effect' is perfectly acceptable in this instance.

[Fly-by-Wife]

'Effect' is perfectly acceptable in this instance.

No it isn't.

Not everyone inhabits your "dumbed-down" world, optimist.

FBW

[sprthompson]

If you guys want to prove you're clever, couldn't you try and answer the questions?

(Sorry, 4th unhelpful reply)

[flyingman-of-kent]

You should have fun with this flight, especially if you go in nice weather.

I flew there a few years ago in a PA28 and here are the route details + times. The flight times are approximate! We broke the journey at Tours, then did the 2 legs to Palma where we stayed for 2 nights. On the return we stayed at Touluse, Jersey and the Isle of Wight!

We routed from Biggin Hill to Tours (3.2h), Tours to Perpignan (3.5h) Perpignan to Palma (2.3h).

On approach to Majorca we were given a "not above xxx feet" over the island, bearing in mind there are some pretty big hills there! Soon however we were visual with Palma, they were using 24L for arrivals, and 24R for departures, but brought us in on 24R. On landing there is a long taxi round the terminal to the GA parking and GA terminal. We then had to hold to cross various taxiways before being given clearences to taxi around to the GA park. We wanted to get fueled up straight away, but arrived in the middle of the siesta, so had to wait about an hour for fuel in 36oC heat! I guess we could have left them to do it but we preferred to supervise it so we knew it was done. Then we got bussed to the GA terminal, and rubbed shoulders with all the bizjet pilots and pax. Taxi to town, stayed in a nice hotel for a couple of days. We had seen a notice in the terminal saying that VFR departures were not allowed on certain days, so chose to depart a bit early - worth checking!

There is also a much smaller airfield to the west of Palma, you can see it on Google Maps. For us it was more fun to go to Palma, but you may choose to go somewhere smaller.

All pretty easy, make sure you do the Customs thing at Perpinan (On a previous trip when we went into Spain, Beziers did not have customs so had to pop to Perpignan - worth checking your choice of departure from France carefully - and yes it should have been intra-Shengen but not according to the Customs Chief we met on the way back!!) .

On the way back we routed Palma to Touluse (4h), Touluse to St Nazare (3.3h) then to Dinard (1h) as we were heading to Jersey, Bournemouth and the Isle of Wight on the way back. Unfortunately it was a bank holiday so we were unable to do the Airbus tour, and at St Nazare it was deserted with only a machine for fuel. Luckily a couple of microlight pilots were able to show us how it worked!

All in all a great trip, with around 21 hours flown. As usual in France there were large periods of time when we saw or heard nothing, and arrival into each place was easy and straightforward.

In terms of items that may be prohibited from being taken through airport security, you will have to find out from the individual airports GA section if this will apply to you. I have been waved through at some of the biggest airports, and sent through the metal detectors and had shoes removed etc. at some of the smaller ones. Prepare an overnight bag that does not have any sharps, liquids and you should be fine.

[VFR Transit]

flyingman-of-kent

You have a PM :ok:

As for the grammer police, thanks again for your typical PPrune responce :}

VFR

[BackPacker]

In terms of items that may be prohibited from being taken through airport security, you will have to find out from the individual airports GA section if this will apply to you. I have been waved through at some of the biggest airports, and sent through the metal detectors and had shoes removed etc. at some of the smaller ones. Prepare an overnight bag that does not have any sharps, liquids and you should be fine.

That's my experience too. They're not too worried that any prohibited items make it onto your aircraft, but they're worried that you might leave any prohibited items in the terminal, or give it to someone behind security who's going to be on a commercial flight.

So it depends on the exact layout of the terminal whether you can bring any contraband with you. If you have to cross the main public terminal to get to your plane you generally have a problem, but if there's a VIP terminal or direct entry onto the platform you are generally ok.

Best to be safe though and leave anything that might even remotely be considered contraband in the aircraft. It's hard to figure out the exact situation in advance.

[172driver]

1. With the USA and most of the EU Advance Passenger Information is given to the Spainish Gov by the airlines before they travel, does the same apply to GA? (apart from the flight plan)


No

2. Hand baggage restrictions on Gels, Pastes and Liquids, does the same apply to private flights in GA Aircraft?

Haven't had to deal with the UK 'security' fascists in a while, but generally, no.

sorry of these are silly question, but as this is the first long trip for me, i would want to make sure it's legal.

Not silly at all - just goes to show how cowed we have become in the face of totaliarism

In terms of items that may be prohibited from being taken through airport security, you will have to find out from the individual airports GA section if this will apply to you. I have been waved through at some of the biggest airports, and sent through the metal detectors and had shoes removed etc. at some of the smaller ones. Prepare an overnight bag that does not have any sharps, liquids and you should be fine.

And that's good advice !