Norwich landing fee shock

[Mr Cessna]

Just on my way to Norwich today and heard that the landing fee for a piper is almost £50, does anybody know how much it is for a Cessna 152 to land at Norwich?

Many thanks :ok:

[AndoniP]

i'm not meaning to give you a snotty answer, but have you called them to ask?

[p1andy]

Couple of months ago i landed in Newcastle as part of my QXC. £66 to plant the PA28 on the ground there :eek:

[Cusco]

There's a work-around: You call the flying school at the western end before you fly and tell them you'd like to visit:

Then tell ATC inbound that you're visiting the flying club and request taxi to the flying club where you can get a cup of coffee, fuel and pay a reduced fee.

Sadly this is not widely publicised.....

(Have to say I've never done this so can't tell you the name of the flying club, but some one wiser than me who is Norwich based will be along in a minute)

PS the £50 often quoted is I think the minimum charge if an invioce has to be sent: Actual charges paid on the day are a bit less: New management has taken on board the antagonism to GA by the old regime and is actively trying to woo GA by better charges.

Though they haven't managed to woo me yet and I'm based not far away........

[pulse1]

There's a letter in the current LAA magazine in which describes a very happy visit to Norwich in his RV6. He paid £20+VAT for handling by Saxonair which included the landing fee.

For this he was given personal transport from the apron and back.

I should add that I have no connection with Norwich and am very unlikely to ever visit as I live too far away.

[Morrisman1]

This is partially off topic but why are landing fees so expensive in the UK? Here in new zealand the most expensive airport I've landed at is Queenstown (NZQN) and that was $40 or at current exchange rates 20 Pounds. My base airport is about $18 per landing and that is a 2.2km tarmac runway with fire rescue and everything. The airports that don't have airline movements are still around that price.

I wouldn't be too happy to fork out over $100 to land anywhere unless it included a couple nights parking during a major event.

Are all landings pricey in the UK or do I just hear about the overly expensive ones on here?

[Cusco]

Morrisman: Norwich has delusions of grandeur: it's even trying to grab its own chunk of Class D airspace on the back of dodgy figures to support an increase in traffic.

The new management however is trying to go some way towards repairing the harm done to GA by the previous lot.............

Problem with most airfields in UK is that they're privately owned and not owned by the local Chamber of Commerce as many are in USA and France where fees are either much lower or non-existent.

Though the French are now catching on.............

[soaringhigh650]

Problem with most airfields in UK is that they're privately owned and not owned by the local Chamber of Commerce as they are in USA and France where fees are either much lower of non-existent.

And another problem is that most UK pilots don't really care or there's not enough of beef in the representative groups to make a significant difference.

Otherwise a vicious battle would have been fought many decades ago and the airfields wouldn't have been privately owned and completely unregulated in how they decide to charge their users.

[stiknruda]

SaxonAir is the correct answer.

Stik

[sammypilot]

Funny place Norwich Airport. A couple of years back three of us were doing airfields in the Eastern Counties and when at Beccles one of the party said he would like to get Norwich in his log book. We got PPR and after landing went for a cup of tea. We were somewhat surprised to see the arrival of our PA28 appear on the arrivals board and perhaps even more surprised that we were shown as 15 minutes late.

When we left the terminal to go back to the aircraft, despite producing our ID, we had to stand in front of a camera, apparently for identification purposes. Lastly we had requested fuel so we could return to Liverpool non-stop. We could see the refuelling bowser but he seemed to be taking a very circuitous route to get to us. When he did arrive he explained that every time he was called to refuel an aircraft he had to pass through security, something he did many times in the day. He had to produce his pass even though they knew him well.

It's in the log book and the visit doesn't need to be repeated.

[cavortingcheetah]

Security at Norwich for passengers and performers alike makes up in tediousness what it lacks either in rational thought or quality. This might help explain why you found it extra specially ridiculous.
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Norfolk | Security breach at Norwich airport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/7364854.stm)
It is rumoured that the head of security on whose watch this incident took place neither resigned nor was she fired.

[Cusco]

I fly from Norwich to Manchester with Flybe regularly:

It's the only airport where I still get asked to take my belt off, and my shoes as well as p*ssing about with my poly bag of toothpaste and shampoo...........

And I still set the alarm off every time and end up being searched/metal detected/patted down.

Must be my dental fillings.

There are usually five staff in there dealing with a trickle of punters.

[p1andy]

Yeah the amount of staff at the security in Norwich is a joke. They must just be given a job as a handout.

I flew through Norwich for 2yrs working on the rigs then travel back to ABZ. When you come off the chopper you have to go in a minibus, leave the airfield, only to come back into the airfield through a security cabin, then over to the terminal.
All they did at that cabin was come out and check the tax on the bus, kick the tyres check the drivers ID and that was it. How many times a day do they need to check the TAX etc???

[mad_jock]

Careful you all are going to get charges leveled at you of having a secret agenda against Norwich airport.

All comments will be ignored because apprently everyone who is vocal about how badly run the place is has said agenda.

Come on Norwich we don't actually want the place to shut down. Your going to have to do something or it will just be a spiral dive into turning into a housing estate.

1. Get someone with a clue to have a fresh start with the whole security setup. And that someone should be outside the commercial empire building contractors.

2. Sort the bloody terminal out!! It is an absolute shambles, I don't know what excuses they have for the way they operate but it ain't normal. It certainly doesn't make people want to pay a bit extra to use the local airport. Gawd you really have to be bad for people to be willing to subject themselves to the Stanstead experence when they have a local airport 10mins away in a taxi.

3. CAS why o why are you pissing money up the wall with this when your taxiways are in bits? I presume you have been suckered by the lowco's that they will operate services in there if you do get it. So so many regional airports have been suckered by this, buying radar etc to only find they operate in for 3 months and then decide its not worth it.

4. Pax tax it really pisses people off especially when you piss it up the wall with CAS . See point 3 about people using another airport.

5. GA you ain't busy, the tarmac isn't going anywhere, its not getting worn out by a 2 ton spam can, the ATCO's are being payed for. Have decent prices for both training and visitors. If the admin is deemed to cost alot have a way to get round it. eg a block of 20 landings for 250 quid or charge 15 quid cash. Get a self handling system in. Inverness just has a room in the C and you fill out a form with card payment details or cash and post it in a box. But for gawds sake stick the C somewhere sensible that doesn't involve having anything to do with security or the terminal.


At the moment you have pilots that don't like operating into the place, pax who begrudge paying pax tax and the ball ache of going through the terminal.

And an airport who has its head deeply buried in the sand telling itself that its doing all the right things when it is patently obvious to outsiders that it has cancer and its touch and go if its curable.

[bingofuel]

Very well said MJ, could apply to many smaller airports, or perhaps aerodromes, 'Airports' seem to have delusions of grandeur, just because ' port ' implies customs availability.

PS Hey your gramar and speling is geting beter

[mad_jock]

After 5 sectors this afternoon it will proberly take a nose dive :p

[lotusexige]

Mad Jock, agreed that the idea of a passenger tax has to be the beginning of the end for any airport which is within 50-100 miles of another.
On the landing fees, when I did my PPL a long time ago the landing fee at Aldergrove was £7.20 but the minimum invoice was £20, if I remember correctly. What we did was to pay the £100 up front and stay in credit so that all landings were charged at the £7.20.
Mind you even £7.20 was a fair bit then, when I started a C150 was £16.40 an hour.

[cavortingcheetah]

The next time the gang at NWI wants to check your prescription eye drops for nitro glycerine just insist that the person intending to do so wears a pair of sterilised surgical gloves. Then when they want to confiscate the piece of string you carry in your hand baggage so that you can strap up a wayward suitcase the other end, ask them please to impound the belt of every man or woman with more than a 48 inch waist because that too could be used as a restraint. Norwich airport is a dirty little place and at £5 a departure, it's an expensive airport. In spite of the fact that it is nearer for many than STN, which is a little less disgusting, if it weren't for KLM and the AMS hub the end would be nearer than nigh.

['Chuffer' Dandridge]

Based out of there for a few days for a local airshow back in the 90s. Got the third degree (even then, pre 11/9 days!) trying to return to our aeroplanes with the 'distinctive' paint scheme and our 'distinctive' matching flying overalls. They didn't seem to know that a domestic flight required nothing in the way of license, Passport etc. Security guards who obviously had small person/big ego syndrome..:rolleyes:

Haven't been back since, and don't intend to unless i'm on fire.:ok:


PS Blackpool is another place where I haven't been since due to the 'Security' nonsense.. In a Mil helo too!

[Shrimps]

PS Blackpool is another place where I haven't been since due to the 'Security' nonsense.. In a Mil helo too!

BLK no longer requires transit through the passenger terminal for visiting GA:ok:

[soaringhigh650]

PS Blackpool is another place where I haven't been since due to the 'Security' nonsense.

I really don't know what turns people off when they hear "Security". If you don't carry any dangerous items, walking through that x-ray scanner should be no big deal.

At least the airport knows you ain't gonna be crazy and blow yourself up on the ramp or hold passengers walking to other jets to ransom with a gun.

[Oldpilot55]

I think its a reaction to the intellectually challenged jobsworths that seem to like security jobs. No one really minds travelling in airliners that don't blow up, its the pedantic way that security is applied.
Coming from the USA you should be used to that. Does the TSA deliberately pick folk that stupid or is a function of minimum wage? I'm equally sure security folk on this side of the pond are not handsomely rewarded.

[Danscowpie]

Its rather a shame that, as "representitives" of the G/A community (except Stiknruda) your utter ignorance makes fools of you all.

Saxonair has been the answer for a while now, where the fees are very reasonable for the excellent service they provide.

It appears that Mad Jock has an agenda based on a bad experience a few years ago (which he justifiably had grounds to moan about) but I don't think he's been back since.
I use Norwich regularly and, aside from being a scheduled passenger, I'd never elect to transit through the main terminal - anyone who does so should accept that the Securuty staff are bound by Government regulations and do what they have to do.

If you go Norwich and haven't arranged to visit one of the based flying clubs, use Saxonair, they're the best FBO Ive ever come across in every aspect.

Do a bit of research, fly in, then base your posts on facts, not bull****.

[Zulu Alpha]

Do a bit of research

So how much is it via Saxonair?

[mad_jock]

It wasn't just that experence (although it was the cherry on the cake) I had operated out of there before that. Mostly the odd few days but had 2 weeks there once at which point I had to be moved because suddenly my airport pass wasn't valid any more with one particular shift in security.

And you are right I haven't been there getting on for 3 years now. But Pilots I know say it hasn't changed a bit on the terminal side of things they still dread operating in there. Saxon is pretty good as long as you are under 19 seats but gawd help you if your not. You just have to hope its a fuel pick up and go. If you have to night stop the hotel across from the terminal is horrible and you have the whole ball ache of getting to your aircraft in the morning.

If you just positioning out its virtually impossible to get your overnight bag to the aircraft. You ask about getting crew bags checked in and you just get a load of blank faces and shrugging of shoulders "we don't know about that flight number" and then walk off or claim they are now on a break. If you try and go through security with your bag they want to confiscate nearly everything.

As I said the place has got a cancer and its still in denial that there is anything wrong.

[Phil Space]

Mad Jock
Careful you all are going to get charges leveled at you of having a secret agenda against Norwich airport.
All comments will be ignored because apprently everyone who is vocal about how badly run the place is has said agenda.
Come on Norwich we don't actually want the place to shut down. Your going to have to do something or it will just be a spiral dive into turning into a housing estate.
1. Get someone with a clue to have a fresh start with the whole security setup. And that someone should be outside the commercial empire building contractors.
2. Sort the bloody terminal out!! It is an absolute shambles, I don't know what excuses they have for the way they operate but it ain't normal. It certainly doesn't make people want to pay a bit extra to use the local airport. Gawd you really have to be bad for people to be willing to subject themselves to the Stanstead experence when they have a local airport 10mins away in a taxi.

3. CAS why o why are you pissing money up the wall with this when your taxiways are in bits? I presume you have been suckered by the lowco's that they will operate services in there if you do get it. So so many regional airports have been suckered by this, buying radar etc to only find they operate in for 3 months and then decide its not worth it.

4. Pax tax it really pisses people off especially when you piss it up the wall with CAS . See point 3 about people using another airport.

5. GA you ain't busy, the tarmac isn't going anywhere, its not getting worn out by a 2 ton spam can, the ATCO's are being payed for. Have decent prices for both training and visitors. If the admin is deemed to cost alot have a way to get round it. eg a block of 20 landings for 250 quid or charge 15 quid cash. Get a self handling system in. Inverness just has a room in the C and you fill out a form with card payment details or cash and post it in a box. But for gawds sake stick the C somewhere sensible that doesn't involve having anything to do with security or the terminal.
At the moment you have pilots that don't like operating into the place, pax who begrudge paying pax tax and the ball ache of going through the terminal.

And an airport who has its head deeply buried in the sand telling itself that its doing all the right things when it is patently obvious to outsiders that it has cancer and its touch and go if its curable.

Pretty much sums the place up.

An airport to avoid for GA pilots and the hassle of flying from there as a passenger makes Stansted worth the drive for locals. The place is very anti GA for visitors to Norwich with the hassle not making a trip to the city worthwhile. NWH loves to make GA traffic taxy for 10 to 15 minutes when an intersection departure such as that at Cardiff would save time and fuel.

Blackpool and Durham Tees spaceport seem to have the same attitude.
Cambridge by contrast is a breeze.

[Cusco]

Ah memories! Swanton Morley: Ruddy great expanse of grass with a line of white markers across the middle:

Gliders to the left, power to the right.

So simple...........

[vanHorck]

I learned flying at Norwich which in those days was great (early nineties) with an away landing at Ipswich, left or right of the puddles......

Great memories mixing with the Fokker Friendships of Air UK

[1.3VStall]

vanHorck,

Get some time in boy - I remember being in my Chipmunk and sharing the circuit with Air Anglia DC3s!

(Mind you, some older than me will remember the place as RAF Horsham St Faith).

[Mr Cessna]

The landing fee at Norwich was £30 in total but it included a nice air-conditioned brand new building and complementary (soft) drinks + tea, coffee etc.

SAXON AIR ground handling - the best in the world!

:ok:

[Victorian]

Agreed Saxonair are very pleasant helpful bunch and for £30 for a PA28 they should be - but - beware if arriving from outside UK because then it's a swingeing £50 due to some 'clearance' fee or something. A very nasty shock as due to a nice tailwind I could have made my base direct and only stopped there because i'd filed it that way. Deeply annoying.

Nice Saxonair people if you're reading this please take note. You are on a direct track for many of us routeing from Germany/Holland/Denmark etc but I for one will do quite a lot to avoid these sorts of outrageous 'fees'.

[1.3VStall]

SCA,

I'm not sure whether Swanton Morley, or Middle Wallop, is the largest expanse of grass. However, I've flown from both of them and they are both huuuuuuge!

[Auster Fan]

My understanding is that Swanton was the biggest grass airfield in Northern Europe; sadly no more....... :(

[MichaelJP59]

Well the large grass area seems to be still there at Swanton Morley on Google Maps, though I doubt if the Army would appreciate us landing. Seems a bit of a waste of grass at the moment though.

[mad_jock]

That grass will be the joy of some RSM proberly installed a tanoy system just to yell at folk walking on it.

[MichaelJP59]

On a Norwich related topic - anyone know if it's possible to land, taxi to and park near the Air Museum? Would be a long walk otherwise!

[ShyTorque]

My understanding is that Swanton was the biggest grass airfield in Northern Europe; sadly no more.......

I reckon RAF Newton was bigger.

[Danscowpie]

About (http://www.anglia-flight.co.uk/) - Anglia Flight Training

They live next door to the Control Tower on the north side of the airfield, have their own substantial grass parking area and are about 2 minutes walk from the Museum.
Check the museum opening times, Dale's doors are open 7 days per week, the museum's aren't.

[MichaelJP59]

Thanks, danscowpie that's useful to know.

[IO540]

Just be a little careful when flying to a certain Norwich flying school... they are, shall we say, less than quick in passing the money over to the airport, which eventually goes after the aircraft directly.

When I contacted the school as to why did they not pay the airport, I was told I must speak to the Company Secretary. Hey ho, a great answer.

Took me a few months to sort this out last time I did this :)

It's more fun on an N-reg because Norwich airport accounts office gets the faa.gov trust company address and send the invoice there.

[stiknruda]

Name and shame IO!

Although, I am 99% positive that I know who it is and its been 6 yrs since I last landed there but do aviate in the vicinity!

Stik