NICE/LFMN airport of delays and chaos (The Kim & Lucinda thread)

[HermanTheGerman]

after recent last visits, I come to the opininon that this is the worst airport in europe. it doesn't matter which fbo/handler you have, it doesn't matter which company for catering you choose: it is always the same. late fuel (up to 2 hours of delay) late catering (odered for 05:30, eta 07:00, delivered: 06:45) and therefore no chance for adjustments. late pick up from the aircraft: "the car is on the way, captain" but obviously it is coming from paris. this happenend several times. what are your experiences, any ideas or is there a fbo ( i know swissport and aviapartner) where everything works as it should?:ugh:

[HS125]

This happens every summer, they cant cope with the demand but countinue to charge for the service. If youre able to go there, Cannes (LFMD) is much more user friendly.

[His dudeness]

The only thing that always showed up in time was the bill...and in a breathtaking amount.
Lets face it: they just don´t want us there.
Used to go there in the early ninetes very often, was a pain then as well...
During night or bad weather Cannes is no subsitute, so we´ll have to live with it I guess.

[G-SPOTs Lost]

Depending on your aircraft size, go to Cannes or if you are bigger go to Hyeres Toulon (7000 ft).

What you save on handling landing and parking and hassle pays for the Helicopter xfer for your pax to either Grimaud (St Tropez), Cannes (Cannes), NIce (Nice) or Monaco. All xfers between 15 & 25 mins, Heli parks next to Jet

There is a signature and a brand new GAT at Hyeres, invariably if you are just dropping off in Cannes you can do without Handling and save €190.00

Only snag is Hyeres is PPR as its Naval but never withheld as far as I know.

Not only that but if you are coming down UL128 from the UK its probably 15 mins quicker which also contributes towards the cost of the heli.

Helisecuritie is best Ive tried them all. If you book preseason you will probably get one xfer free if you pay for 10

[EatMyShorts!]

Yepp, I usually don't have trouble in NCE. You need to adapt to the style there and things will run smoothly. At Swissport they are trying hard and I was lucky with fuel, too, the last few times that I have been there.

[Bizjets]

Hello,

You may also alternatively use St Tropez La Mole (LFTZ) or Le Castellet (LFMQ) where you won't have any handling & fuel issues. Of course depending on the size of your aircraft... LFTZ up to DA50, LFMQ up to BBJ.
I approve of your opinion regarding heavy delays reported at Nice, it's definitely a nightmare to try to reach the FBO for hours, they just never pick up the phone and don't seem to be very motivated for most of them. That's sad...:(
LFMD is the best!

[Bumz_Rush]

The P parking was almost empty last night when I arrived, the thunderstorms had passed, the only problem was NOT 1 taxi wanted to come to the airport...So Avia Partnet staff drove us to hotel.....

For once I was pleased to be in Nice.


Bumz

[Sensible Garage]

fueltank driver committed suicide Saturday morning, the rest of his company went on strike, the other company was overcomitted, took close to 2 hours to get gogo juice...

[Kent BeTrue]

Taxi's after a later arrival can be a problem, we book a limo in advance.... same price as taxi but always there waiting. Avia and Swiss have both forgotten to call a taxi until we get there, thereby waiting another 15 20 mins.
Service we use is www.jet-set-international.com

[Dumbledor]

fueltank driver committed suicide Saturday morning, the rest of his company went on strike, the other company was overcomitted, took close to 2 hours to get gogo juice...

Should we not take a minute or two to think about the poor guy who commited suicide and the family he may have left behind.
How unhappy he must have been.................
My sincerest condolences to his family.
D

[mgTF]

ok, caotic airport, but what about KIM & LUCINDA...
The angelic girls working for swissport

anytime I see them it's an emotion...!!

[G-SPOTs Lost]

mgTF


Very valid point - well made..... :ok:

Which is the very cute one from England

[Sensible Garage]

very, very cute indeed!

[scambuster]

very, very cute indeed!
Lucinda........she's mine!!!!

[mgTF]

ok, I'll leave you Lucinda, BUT KIM SHE'S MINE!!!!!!

[Sensible Garage]

Lucinda rules

[cirrus17]

To the pilots; MGtf, GSPOTs lost, Sensible Garage and Scambuster-

Did you honestly think that these comments would not be found by us eventually?

[cirrus17]

sure.......

[cirrus17]

but thank you for sticking up for us regarding the handling :ok:

[Sensible Garage]

Cirrus17 (or is it Cirrus22?), sure you have been told by pilot(s) at the desk, admit it!

anyway, the service was spot on the other day, many thanks

[cirrus17]

yay, thank you Mr Garage.
We'll try and keep it up

[MonarchA330]

Kim is by FAR the fittest. She's got awesome legs :ok:

[wacoplane]

...Kim & Lucinda; the very best side of England, whereever you look at!

[scambuster]

well, just to let you folks at swissport know- i did contact the company after a recent visit to tell them about very good service from yourselves. Not just because of Kim and Lucy!! although i have to admit i suffered a mild hormone disturbance..................:eek:
ps: any pics? Lucy pls post!

[MonarchA330]

'Any pics', Scambuster? That is disgraceful.

M330

P.S. I have pics and no you can't have any

[Itswindyout]

They have one or two benefits too, but not seedy service, unless you give BIG tips.......

Back towards the main thread.....For corporate users, who is the best ????....for service, etc....Aviapartners is very very busy, and often overloaded, with work, and having sat there have heard recently several irate crews.

Windy

[FLEXJET]

Try Swissport, I had positive feedback from a crew recently.
As for fuel uplifts, it's more like a "First G-V come, last King Air served basis..."

:)

[Chally604]

Hey,
the nice girls have been working 7 days in a row. At least Luzy..
Ok.. U always have the same.. Yes CPT... its on its way... Almost there... in one minute...
In sommer they may have a problem in LFMN but catering comes from Entipes (how do u spell that?) and handling has not a big influence on them.
Anyhow.. they try their best and at least they smile sometimes (compared with places like UU.. or UA..) and even after 7 days of work its a pleasure to visit the girls.
Swissport rules.. seeya tomorrow.. :D

And Herman,.. I think I know your A/C. You won't get that bomber into Cannes, Le Cast., or any other place around, right?

[south coast]

delays, dont even notice them, the girls are so stunningly beautiful that everything else just melts away into insignificance!

i'm in love....:ugh: :ugh: :ugh:

[4144r]

Was to time this month at NCE, same problem...no fuel, you have to wait several hours to got it.
Last time, tired to wait, we depart VFR to Cannes (no slot)for refueling (nice 15 minutes flight-1500' agl) then taking off Cannes VFR, pick up an IFR clearance airborne back to Moscow.
If you get the choice, land a Cannes, very freindly airport.
Happy landing.:ok:

[HermanTheGerman]

...no, you don't... it's a C550Bravo and, yes, it will go to the other airports!

Last time we had Aviapartner, next time we'll try swissport again. I think I used them 2 years ago for the last time. Can't remember those nice girls- but I am looking forward to meeting them!

And, since I started this thread, I might receive some special service :ok:

[cirrus17]

Hurrar for sainsbury's milk!! Thank you very much Mr Jenvey, was greatly appreciated! :D

[4HolerPoler]

Just used Swissport & they're better than ever - no sign of the ladies but the service was better than ever. Florian has a great team.

4HP

[FLEXJET]

I saw you yesterday. Nice surprise !
The flag gave a "head of state" look at your aircraft...

[4HolerPoler]

It's great to be back in Nice - 4HP's here until the 25th - anyone feels like a beer, give me a shout. Never been a better time for a Nice bash.

4HP (PPRuNe LFMN detachment)

[cirrus17]

4hp- that flag was soooooooo cool!!! V groovy

[4HolerPoler]

;) Not as groovy as you bunch K. See you guys Wednesday.

For those of you who haven't yet seen the light - Swissport Nice rocks!

4HP

[G-SPOTs Lost]

4HP.
Been into LFMN a couple of times inthe last few days, wild guess but judging by your username is yours the chariot parked next to papa with the green stripe down the side? Affirm - this time every year. Great to be back. Sorry I missed you. In Paris now, for two weeks. 4HP
If so very nice.....:ok:

[Sensible Garage]

oh my god....:sad:

[mgTF]

When my cpt will discover that will be a sad day for him...

But is Kim still there? I hope...

[specialbrew]

In Nice this morning, apparently Lucinda has moved back to the UK!!! :{ :{ :{
......but there is another VERY nice young lady just started there a few weeks ago:ok: Dont know her name but English.

I just love those uniforms they wear.....;)

[EGLF_base]

In Nice this morning, apparently Lucinda has moved back to the UK!!! :{ :{ :{

does she need a job in the UK??

[cirrus17]

mr jenvey, you are an absolute star!!!!

[mgTF]

cirrus17, I'm now in dubai till the end of the month for training, but when I'll be back in europe will you still be there??

[cirrus17]

my last day is 31st sep....... so if you're back in Nice by then.... of course there is a proviso..... you have to tell me who you are!

[MonarchA330]

cirrus,

Do you ever do any work or do you spend your whole time flirting with pilots?

M330

[Chimbu chuckles]

MonarchA330...and what would be wrong with that?:ok: :ok:

[MonarchA330]

Well, from a TOTAL outsiders PoV, it would appear that all you pilots are complaining about lack of fuel, delays etc... maybe if you let her get on with her work there wouldn't be such problems?!

Or am I missing something? ;)

M330

[cirrus17]

I'm presuming that other gentlemen will leap to defend me, but until they log on, I shamm defend mysemf against Monarch 330- who incidentally shouldn't be in a business jet forum seeing as he works for a commercial airline!
I am fabulous at my job. Being charming does not distract me from my duties. And ps- the fuel has nothing to do with the FBO's, it's dealt with by Nice airport as a whole!
Now, I expect an apology please

[MonarchA330]

ABOUT to work in a commercial airline... not quite. So keeping my options open ;)

As for apologies, you know what you owe me 1st...

[mgTF]

don't know if I can be there by the end of the month, eventually if I come by train will provide your handling service (airport slot, fuel, catering...) anyway?

P.S. send me a PM with your email and I'll show you who I'm!

[Kus]

Hello Pilots.... Lucy has left and Kims leaving soon....:{ But Ill be here looking after you till the 31st of October...:p

[HermanTheGerman]

...from 29th of september until 1st of october. Unfurtantly my Ops will book the other company again. But I will have a look for Kim... :rolleyes:

[mgTF]

sorry herman, runway engaged!!!

[cirrus17]

kind of ironic considering my name, but can anyone tell me anything about cirrus aviation please? x

[mgTF]

won't you be a pilot??
should be based in florida, is this one? but ask if they are jaa certified otherwise if they just release faa license you won't be able to work in europe!!

anyway I'm a flight instructor, and for you of course will be free of charge........:p

[cirrus17]

Errrr, no, I can barely reverse park my car, I am definately not a pilot, trying to get me to park a plane..... baaaaaaaddddd idea!
Faa? jaa? what does that mean?

And if you're a flight instructor, how would you have flown into lfmn?

[mgTF]

Because I work on a jet plane for an airtaxi company, in the past I've been a flight instructor and sometime for fun I do some flight as F.I.

Faa is the american aviation autority
Jaa is the european equivalent
but a license released by one is not valid for the other

[cirrus17]

ok lovely pilots, if anyone has a ferry flight going anywhere in the london region on the 2nd october.................... xxxx i'll bake you flapjacks!

[Sensible Garage]

maybe, you'll never now, I'll keep you posted!

[727 exec]

Can I thank the excellent gentleman from Swissport who drove me to the Holiday Inn Victor Hugo last night...no cabs at LFMN at midnight...

ps Mike Jenvey...please be careful about logging out of your AOL account at FBO's...you were still logged in at EGGW the other day when I went to use the computer at Harrods...

[mgTF]

so that's the date!!!?

I don't think I'd have an opportunity to bring you back home, but what you think about a romantic cruise (me and you) from south france to england??

[a4fly]

Hi Cirrus17. Cirrus Aviation in the u.k. is now defunct, at least by name. The new company is called Executive Jet Group. They operate two Falcon 900s from (usually) Farnborough and Paris Le Bourget.

[cirrus17]

well my mother told me never to accept lifts from strangers, and I still have no idea who you are!

[cirrus17]

Well, tomorrow I fly back to a land of supermarkets open past quarter to five, and where people drive on the right side of the road- that's the left by the way!

Goodbye to all you lovely pilots, huge hugs and thanks to anyone who brought me milk over the summer :D

I hope you all have lovely autumns and winters!

Kim xxxx
and ps- anyone who is flying to the london area tomoz on a ferry flight....!

[4HolerPoler]

Cheers Kim - you brightened up our days in Nice - best wishes. Stay in touch.

4HP

[HermanTheGerman]

well, remembering the main cause for this thread, I found an improvement at LFMN.

During my last visit (we made 2 flights out of LFMN) everything worked quite well. catering and fuel was there on time, everything went fine.

Maybe this thread woke a few people up, that was my intention.

And, finally, since last friday I now know who Kim is.

All the best to you!

:D

[mgTF]

well the day has come...
I'm flying today from paris to biggin hill...

You wish us a good winter 'cos you are coming back in spring
or is your aviation experience finished?

[Kus]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone knows of any job openings in private aviation in Birmingham or Coventry from November and onwards. Working for Swissport in Nice at the moment but moving to sunny :hmm: Birmingham in the beginning of November.

Grateful for any information!!!

[HermanTheGerman]

...today they were not able to deliver fuel for us. NOTAM only saying something like "carriers are requested to have double fuel on board". Coming from Kiev, going to Kiev in a HS 800 XP I don't know how I shall carry fuel for both legs. Maybe in the cabin? We refuelled in LOWW after picking up our passengers in LFMN. Extra Fuel stop. Full (yes I checked that) Fuel truck was refueling a XLS nearby in LFMN. But he was not able to come to us since we had a different Handler. Yes I love this airport- obviously it's getting worse!

[Phil Brockwell]

Just had a note come through, Cannes have run out of fuel, no notificaion at all! Crew informed upon arrival?

[Aslak]

Arrived at airport on Saturday a bit more than 4 hrs before departure time (arrived in LFMN on Wednesday and at that point handling agent had cancelled our rooms at our previously confirmed hotels and moved us to some remote place outside of Nice) and was told that we had to wait for fuel at least 5-6 hrs.
Handler's (Aviapartner) attitude towards the happening was " have you not been in Nice before?" or "that is the way it is, there is nothing we can do about it, it is not our problem" !!!

Tried to reason them that it is actually really your problem. I just arrived in an international 24/7 airport and I am paying you for some service.

We did manage to get fuel in couple of hours by a little miracle, but I know people who actually waited for more than 5 hrs....

Catering arrived in time, although without any of our dishes.
After 2 hrs and 4 phone calls where they blaimed that they have never received any dishes from us nor they know where they could be, we started to be little bit on the verbally agressive side, or at least the C/A's did.
After C/A yelled at them on phone stating that all the dinner wear were actually almost irreplaceable and very very expensive and we think they must have stolen them, suddenly everything was found like that and were deliverd to aircraft. Great?!?

However, we were parked at parking K (no APU allowed) and requested a towing to stand 1s, where you can actually have electricity, about 1:30 hrs before departure. You can repo by towing 1 hr earlier.
We eventually got the towing truck front of us 15 mins after our original dep time and after 5 phone calls to handler.. Even then, just 20 meters from the line where you can turn your APU on, we were stopped by airport authority's Marshaller while on towing. I had just at that point started the APU since we were in stand in 30 secs and we were late by more that 30 mins and the pax had been at the aiport for more than 45 mins.

The marshaller drove his car in front of the towing truck and ordered us to stop the APU without any obvious reason, oh, except for the fact that I did start the APU 20 meters before the stand while being delayd for towing for more than 1 and an half hour.

I must say, that for the first time in my aviation career I totally flipped.
Not proud of it at all, in contrary, but this was altogether almost a nightmare.
And it all happened in Western Europe!!!

It feels like the handler and the airport authority would thing that this is a game.
Looks like it is for them, but for us it certainly was not.

We had more than 10 flights out of the LFMN in at the end of the week and all of them had some what similar experiences...:yuk

Unacceptable and with "could not care less, this is Nice" attitude all over the places...:=

[CL300]

Nice, Cannes, everlasting problems since I'm flying into these places.

Nice and Cannes are fully coordinated airports. The particularities are very interesting to study.

Nice is coordinated due to lack of parking slots. Papa apron is used for quick turns and Kilo for overnights (Plan A), then as we all know, our passengers may decide to leave either earlier or later, whatever. This is the gridlock, even if we can request a slot for Nice a week ahead, it will not be granted more than 48 hours at best before, pending the fact that all participating aircrafts are leaving at their respective ETD, which of course seldom happen. And since everything starts from there... Bingo !! Kilo is a "green" sensitive area, and since it is politically easier to satisty 100 persons than to fight 500 employees in the administration, welcome to 'painting by numbers" world, where 20 meters is a matter of life and death for APU usage.
Fuel : only international airport where fuel is coming by trucks from 150 km away, and a limited supply. Fuel people ( very good at painting); have a statewide commitment to have enough supply for scheduled airline ( per law). In order to meet this deadline, they just delay Biz Aviation, this is their management. If you had that during holiday's week-ends fuel trucks canot drive on the motorways, you have the picture.

Cannes is facing the same fuel issue, but their coordination is made for ATC purposes.

what can we do ? Well since all companies are waking up in summer or BIG events, the association, or lobbying group that defend users of Nice and Cannes has very limited fundings and just try to put off the fire when it breaks out. Everyone is welcome to join in order to put pressure onto authorities. ( no it is not EBAA, the local rep has no clue).

If you wish to operate in a smoother way, you have to see it a an ex-ussr operation, arrive at your ETA depart at your ETD (that you gave 15 days before); refuel on arrival, etc...

Good luck to everyone !

[African Drunk]

Longest wait for fuel in LFMN was in july 7 hours.

[ollycopter]

You have to be smart with the fuel in the summer.. Land with max fuel you can. If you have a couple of days then go the day before departure and top up.. Catering is only EVER late when FAs or copis dont call to confirm the day before and check on the day that its ready, which they should all be doing anyway.

Pick up, even when busy is never that bad. People need to chill. They dont have the capacity and despite the odd rude dude, its okay. And I would rather be in Nice then Cannes or Toulon...

[1Bingo]

Nice is Nice - it's a French thing! If you have the option, recommend Cannes as they are much more user friendly, and walking distance from acft to FBO. Oh yeah, fuel truck usually arrives just after pax depart,

Bon Vogage.

1 Bingo

[farmer jo]

No one has mentioned Landmark ? We are now using them as they have there own fuel through AVITAT and they normally will only fuel their handled aircraft ? We haven't waited more than 10-20 mins for fuel anytime !