Blackpool Fuel Charges / A Disgrace
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Blackpool Fuel Charges / A Disgrace
Has anyone else recently noticed the disgraceful behaviour by the accountants at EGNH? Not only have they managed to see off Ryanair with the famous 'airport development' fee, they now want to see the end of GA also. On what grounds do I make this assumption?
Well only if you really wanted to make your GA residents angry would you hang a sign on the fuel pump which stated that 'All fuel transactions will be rounded UP to the next litre'. So not only do we have to pay ridiculous fuel charges at Blackpool, we now have to pay for fuel we never uplift! I’m sure there must be a legal issue here? Can you imagine filling your car at a petrol station, being charged for fuel you don’t actually put in your vehicle?
They still want to take the GA fraternity for a ride despite having sold half the airfield (including half of runway 25). When will the management at this field start to respect the customer base. When Jet2 goes under, and they decide that GA is the only constant they have?
Well only if you really wanted to make your GA residents angry would you hang a sign on the fuel pump which stated that 'All fuel transactions will be rounded UP to the next litre'. So not only do we have to pay ridiculous fuel charges at Blackpool, we now have to pay for fuel we never uplift! I’m sure there must be a legal issue here? Can you imagine filling your car at a petrol station, being charged for fuel you don’t actually put in your vehicle?
They still want to take the GA fraternity for a ride despite having sold half the airfield (including half of runway 25). When will the management at this field start to respect the customer base. When Jet2 goes under, and they decide that GA is the only constant they have?
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Well only if you really wanted to make your GA residents angry would you hang a sign on the fuel pump which stated that 'All fuel transactions will be rounded UP to the next litre'. So not only do we have to pay ridiculous fuel charges at Blackpool, we now have to pay for fuel we never uplift! I’m sure there must be a legal issue here? Can you imagine filling your car at a petrol station, being charged for fuel you don’t actually put in your vehicle?
Brooklands
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... and it would appear that unlike Mogas, Avgas users are not going to get a phased introduction of the fuel duty over the next 12 months. We're going to get it all in one hit on April 1st
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Did you know that roughly half the price you pay on AVGAS consists of duty & VAT which is entirely pocketed by the Treasury... It doesn't go back into funding national aviation infrastructure! 
I didn't catch how much AVGAS duty was going up by in the Budget. What's the figures?
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Blackpool a bad joke
Two visits to Blackpool and that was enough to put me off for life.
Visit one in the Robin parked on an undulating bit of rough ground that had the makings of a prop strike, the security wanting to take all sorts of safety equipment away from us resulting in a lot of trouble and high fees.
Visit two in a Boeing 737-800, had to hold away from the ramp due to no parking spaces. This was due to the ramp workers who had very little idea of what how to load or unload aircraft. The push back that should take 2 or 3 Min took 20 min with two aircraft almost ending up on the grass. This was down to untrained tug drivers. The only upside was very helpfull ATC who informed me that the day before the ramp monkeys has dammaged the back end of an Airbus.
As I did not want to have a very new airliner at the mercy of these numptys I arranged with ATC to park the aircraft across two stands in a position that I could taxi away from without using the tug. The guy with the bats face was a picture when I just parked the Boeing in the spot that I wanted.
The local management were not very pleased with my parking and even less pleased when I let them know how I regarded management of this micky mouse airport.
Why am I not surprized when they try this sort of thing with the fuel invoicing when the management have demodstrated to me that they would have trouble running a welk stall?
Visit one in the Robin parked on an undulating bit of rough ground that had the makings of a prop strike, the security wanting to take all sorts of safety equipment away from us resulting in a lot of trouble and high fees.
Visit two in a Boeing 737-800, had to hold away from the ramp due to no parking spaces. This was due to the ramp workers who had very little idea of what how to load or unload aircraft. The push back that should take 2 or 3 Min took 20 min with two aircraft almost ending up on the grass. This was down to untrained tug drivers. The only upside was very helpfull ATC who informed me that the day before the ramp monkeys has dammaged the back end of an Airbus.
As I did not want to have a very new airliner at the mercy of these numptys I arranged with ATC to park the aircraft across two stands in a position that I could taxi away from without using the tug. The guy with the bats face was a picture when I just parked the Boeing in the spot that I wanted.
The local management were not very pleased with my parking and even less pleased when I let them know how I regarded management of this micky mouse airport.
Why am I not surprized when they try this sort of thing with the fuel invoicing when the management have demodstrated to me that they would have trouble running a welk stall?
A&C
It would be difficult even to run a WHELK stall if the customers were as pompous and disrespectful as you!!
Did you try constructive comments or the formal reporting system to assist in making improvements, or did you merely slag them off?
Helen
It would be difficult even to run a WHELK stall if the customers were as pompous and disrespectful as you!!
Did you try constructive comments or the formal reporting system to assist in making improvements, or did you merely slag them off?
Helen
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Oh well I seem to have hit the spot! my two visits to Blackpool resulted in security trying to stop be flying with the correct safety equipment for an overwater flight, the showing on the second visit was so poor that the police were on the ramp watching the events with disbelief.
Disrespect on my part............yes I would agree with you on that but it is only as a result of the way things were run when had to use Blackpool airport.
The inabilty of your staff to safely push back airliners was the subject of an ASR at the time.
Disrespect on my part............yes I would agree with you on that but it is only as a result of the way things were run when had to use Blackpool airport.
The inabilty of your staff to safely push back airliners was the subject of an ASR at the time.
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Helen49, if you don't happen to be associated with the field, why so defensive? I would surmise from your tone that you're quite emotive about EGNH. Trust me, I'm very passionate about the airfield, I lived down Lytham road in its shadow for 23 years. As a small boy it was always my dream to learn to fly at EGNH. I managed that and some. I just don't like the money grabbing management that are destroying the place.
Ian Tyler must have an enormous smile on his face. Can you imagine how distressed Balfour Beatty would be if the airfield closed down. What would a construction firm do with all that wide open space? I cant imagine.
Ian Tyler must have an enormous smile on his face. Can you imagine how distressed Balfour Beatty would be if the airfield closed down. What would a construction firm do with all that wide open space? I cant imagine.
I flew my wife into Blackpool as she wanted to go up the tower etc etc.
Got directed to park on the previously mentioned bit of rough grass, most of which was coned off as bad ground. Had the same concerns over prop strike. Got let out by the flying club entrance, caught a bus to the tower and saw the sights, had lunch and a wander about.
On our return we had to go the whole hog of security behind the SLF of a holiday charter flight and this was when the contents of my wife's bag were called into question. No amount of protesting that she was unlikely to hijack her husband at the point of a nailfile or blow us both out of the sky with other harmless objects carried any weight with the Jobsworths.
My wife's 'Tardis' now devoid of potentially lethal objects, we were allowed airside. I was then presented with a bill which included several hrs parking on the rough grass at £7.50 per hr plus VAT. I had no choice but to pay it, but they won't see me again.
Got directed to park on the previously mentioned bit of rough grass, most of which was coned off as bad ground. Had the same concerns over prop strike. Got let out by the flying club entrance, caught a bus to the tower and saw the sights, had lunch and a wander about.
On our return we had to go the whole hog of security behind the SLF of a holiday charter flight and this was when the contents of my wife's bag were called into question. No amount of protesting that she was unlikely to hijack her husband at the point of a nailfile or blow us both out of the sky with other harmless objects carried any weight with the Jobsworths.
My wife's 'Tardis' now devoid of potentially lethal objects, we were allowed airside. I was then presented with a bill which included several hrs parking on the rough grass at £7.50 per hr plus VAT. I had no choice but to pay it, but they won't see me again.
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I am another of those who have been once and will never go back. ATC were very accommodating, but the rest of the experience was both unpleasant and unnecessary from start to finish.
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What grips me is that in the good old days you landed, parked, uplifted fuel and then paid in the refuellers shack. Now you land, park, uplift fuel and walk halfway across the airport to the admin portacabin where you will be lucky to find someone to pay, and when you do will be treated as an inconvienience by the office person concerned (last time I was there she was too busy arranging her social life to take the money and I was on a mighty tight schedule)
Strangely, when you land after 18:00 you land, park, uplift fuel and pay the very helpful bowser driver in the refuellers' shack.
I only go there when I'm flying for the company, and believe me if our ops could find somewhere else to send our aircraft in that area they would. Sadly we have a regular helo job into the town and are stuck with fuel at the airport.
Strangely, when you land after 18:00 you land, park, uplift fuel and pay the very helpful bowser driver in the refuellers' shack.
I only go there when I'm flying for the company, and believe me if our ops could find somewhere else to send our aircraft in that area they would. Sadly we have a regular helo job into the town and are stuck with fuel at the airport.
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I've been to BPL a few times myself the most recent was during the summer last year.
ATC we very friendly, they allowed us to park on the tarmac near the fire hut. We were able to gain access land-side unmolested and all seemed to be going well. However when we came to return to the aircraft less than an hour later things started to get interesting.
We found ourselves going through 'security' in a little hut, in there were two security officers deep in conversation. I put my flight bag through the x-ray and wondered through the scanner which went off. The officer broke off his conversation to come and pat me down, he then noted the x-ray for my bag and removed my bottle of water (quite needed in a cockpit in the middle of summer) despite pointing to our ship which was literally parked outside their door my protest fell on deaf ears. The officer did however fail to notice my leatherman type device in the bottom of my bag
. The gentleman who was flying with me was subject to similar scrutiny.
My previous visit was nearly 5 years ago. When we landed then we were placed on the grass (which seemed to be in okay condition then). we wondered across the apron and were accosted by a Special Branch officer, he politely asked to see my credentials and showed us how to get land-side. The same gent met us on our return and with a smile opened the door air-side to our aircraft and left us to walk across the ramp unaided & unmolested.
- I do miss those days
Needless to say BPL is a place we will try and avoid for now....
ATC we very friendly, they allowed us to park on the tarmac near the fire hut. We were able to gain access land-side unmolested and all seemed to be going well. However when we came to return to the aircraft less than an hour later things started to get interesting.
We found ourselves going through 'security' in a little hut, in there were two security officers deep in conversation. I put my flight bag through the x-ray and wondered through the scanner which went off. The officer broke off his conversation to come and pat me down, he then noted the x-ray for my bag and removed my bottle of water (quite needed in a cockpit in the middle of summer) despite pointing to our ship which was literally parked outside their door my protest fell on deaf ears. The officer did however fail to notice my leatherman type device in the bottom of my bag
. The gentleman who was flying with me was subject to similar scrutiny.My previous visit was nearly 5 years ago. When we landed then we were placed on the grass (which seemed to be in okay condition then). we wondered across the apron and were accosted by a Special Branch officer, he politely asked to see my credentials and showed us how to get land-side. The same gent met us on our return and with a smile opened the door air-side to our aircraft and left us to walk across the ramp unaided & unmolested.
- I do miss those days
Needless to say BPL is a place we will try and avoid for now....