Avgas Availability ? Mid East & South Asia

[lucille]

Thinking of buying a V-tail Bonanza and flying from East Coast USA to Australia, a slow and circuitous tourist tour. Not a shortest time ferry. A long held dream.

Does anyone have first hand about the availability (or lack!) of Avgas in the Middle East and India?

Specifically, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Iran, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh?

So far, the task is looking impossible. I see Avgas in Luxor HELX at $US12 per liter.. That's 50 bucks a gallon to those on the west side of the Atlantic.

[Pittspilot]

Hi Lucille,

In May I ferried a powered glider from Pokhara in Nepal back to Germany. With less than 700nm range and against the wind, it was a little more exciting than the regular flying in my CL300.
Fuel is in the current political situation one of the smaller problems. If possible avoid Egypt!
As a good start you will need an agency assisting in getting permits and arranging fuel beforehand. I can recommend talking to the people from HQ Flightoperations in Germany. I used them. Their service is swift and they have a competitive pricing.
Enjoy your tour, as it will be a once in a life time trip.

HQ-Flightoperations - Ihr zuverlässiger Partner in der Business Aviation (http://www.hq-flightoperations.de/)

http://kunstflieger.de/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Karachi-%C3%9Cberblick.jpg
Karachi, Pakistan 18th of May 2014

Mit Hals- und Beinbruch

Pittspilot

[silverknapper]

Are you fitting extra tanks? Tip or ferry? If so I don't think you'll have too many issues with availability to be honest. Pittspilot is absolutely right. A good agency is a must. We ferried a twin piston to the Middle East with a poor one and it made life very tricky. Find the one who is used to dealing with Pistons. Our problem was it was the normal company who are excellent......for all things jet A1 powered.

However unfortunately it's all going to cost. Your example in Luxor I suspect is accurate. There will be the obvious rip off merchants who see you coming again a good flight planning company should have all this nailed down better than you or I would manage.

[lucille]

No ferry tanks. This is not a ferry trip. It was intended as a tour, there is no rush,no schedule.

Indeed, any advice which includes avoiding Egypt is always sound advice.

Pittspilot. Sounds like a fun trip. I guess your routing was Pakistan, Iran, Turkey etc?

I was hoping for MidEast run… to revisit my old stomping grounds.

A pity diesel engines are not so common. That would take all my problems away.

[Pittspilot]

Yes the trip was fun, but we were lucky!

Three weeks after our picture was taken, 28 people were killed were I was lying under the wing.

http://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/karachi-airport.jpg?w=1100

But back to the routing, also talking to the aviation department in Teheran and receiving many positive signals we were not able to receive a permit to cross Iran.

That way our routing was:

VNPK Pokhara, Nepal
VNKT Katmandu, Nepal
VILK Luknow, India
VABP Bhopal, India
VAAH Ahmadabad, India
OPKC Karachi, Pakistan
OOMS Muscat, Oman
OMAD Abu Dhabi, UAE
OERK Riad, Saudi Arabia
OEHL Hail, Saudi Arabia
OJAQ Aqaba, Jordan
LCPH Paphos, Cyprus
LGRP Rhodos, Greece
LGKR Kerkyra, Greece
LIDR Ravena, Italy
EDMW Deggendorf, Germany
EDKD Altena-Hegenscheid, Germany
EDKA Aachen, Germany

The last stops in Germany were just for meeting friends and family
We flew about 5600nm in a little over 50h flight time. Due to the head wind and to use orographic wind the altitude enroute varied between 50ft and FL90.

With seasonal greetings,
Pittspilot

[lucille]

Thanks. Yes, I have been to Peshawar a few times. Never the most comfortable feeling.

Can you recall the price of Avgas in Riyadh and Hail? The precise number is not important.. Just was it sort of ballpark normal?

Did you need to pre-arrange Avgas at Hail?

[Pittspilot]

Yes you will need to pre-arrange in Hail and Riyadh, as well as most of the other places south east of Aqaba, that’s where you will need the support of a good agency. Unfortunately or by luck I had private arrangements on the basis of personal connections, that carried us through the Gulf States. So there are no prices to report. :cool:

By the way merry christmas :ok:

[dhavillandpilot]

Basically Middle East Avgas costs are around 5 to 6 $us per litre. Cash only

I would suggest you contact mike Gray from white rose in the UK. He is impeccable contacts and does not over charge. His contact numbers is

+44 1943 839500

Also suggest you read my thread about my experience over the same route in July 2013

[avionimc]

Lucille, strongly suggest you fit an extra [ferry] tank in your Bonanza. You will not regret it.

PS. Never had a problem in HELX, stayed at the Movenpick - Crocodile Island, not sure it it is still open...

[lucille]

De Hav pilot.. Thanks!!..

Will make contact as soon as my dates firm up.

[avionimc]

dHP,
Quite an adventure. Great read!
Which shop did overhaul your engines in California?
So to avoid it...
Thanks,

[expatflyer]

Sharjah just north of Dubai has Avgas. Gama Aviation run the FBO and can sort it if needed.

[eight10man]

Ferried a Cessna 404 from Belgium to Thailand 3 years ago, and picked up Avgas in Luxor, Abu Dhabi (smaller bizav airport), Muscat, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangkok (Don Muang). Through India we had barrels brought in and we carried our own hand pump to fill our tanks.

Totally recommend using a reliable agent (who knows small GA) for permits and fuel..!

[Sam Rutherford]

We can help, permits and AVGAS...


Safe flights, Sam.