GA Flight through Spain to Portugal [Archive]

JamesTigris

30th Sep 2019, 20:17

Balearic Helicopters

30th Sep 2019, 21:24

Hi,

I am a UK pilot looking to fly my single engine piston aircraft down to Portimao in Portugal (or a GA friendly airfield nearby).

Can anyone give me any general advice on flying through Spain and Portugal? I'd be interested to know what I might face in planning such a trip, e.g.
Language requirements in the air?
GA friendly airfields?
Rules or proceedures that differ from the UK?

Many thanks for anyone who can help.
I do lots of VFR flying in Spain and Portugal feel free to contact me directly for some recommendations..

There's 3 types of airport in Spain. Large, medium and small private.

Large - avoid.. Not interested in GA, mandatory handling, expensive, painfully slow etc. English no problem.
Medium - Not too bad but be prepared for long times waiting for fuel and lots of paperwork.
English no problem
Small Private - Normally Spanish spoken, smattering of English... Don't always have fuel.

Spain is not overly GA friendly, flight plans needed for almost all flights, lots of paper work on the ground, but once airborne great place to fly!

AENA / ENAIRE run 95% of all airports and as a government organisation comes with the officialdom. The Private airports are easier to use, but few and far between

Always check the airport NOTAM as this is where they hide opening times and fuel availability and opening times. Many airports have strange operating hours.

There's a very good VFR Guide free download with ALL the airports in Spain, worth downloading, not allowed to post link, search for "guiavfr dot enaire dot es"

Portugal tends to be a lot more GA friendly with more options for fuel and landing

Do you have a rough idea of route (direct or along the coast)?

Cheers Jonny

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