Originally Posted by
Jan Olieslagers
That is too much to say, though I take your meaning. But I think it is better to say 'France has many more "public" aerodromes (in the ICAO meaning of the word) than the UK, where all, bar the biggest, are "private" ' - again in the ICAO meaning. A public field is one anyone has the basic right to fly into, a private field is basically PPR. Germany calls them "Verkehrslandeplatz" vs. "Sonderlandeplatz" - I always wonder how this country is full of landing places but has no corresponding/complementary take-off places
But to come back to France and its aerodromes: most of them ARE private and thus PPR, but a good many remain public. And the difference is only one phone call, anyway, in most cases, so who cares?
Anyway, fields like LFAT Le Touquet and LFAC Calais-Dunkerque are public aerodromes, meaning no PPR. Which does not mean one can fly in like a blind elephant! Especially not if coming from non-Schengen territory like UK.
Definitely do your planning, and always a good idea to ring people ahead to tell them your coming in, also useful to find out of anything special is happening or if fuel is available, BUT - dont say PPR unless it is a microlight site (BASE ULM) which in France isnt the same thing - it has different regulations) - it usually confuses them, even at some private airfields i have flown into.
The usual response I have received is "well errr we are an airfield - and we are open, this is our frequency"!
:-)