I see a business opportunity here for some enterprising farm strip owner to issue 'airside passes'. Mind you, they'd need to conduct the appropriate background checks to ensure the applicant could be safely entrusted not to misbehave when left unaccompanied in a field full of sheep. :E

Join AOPA and you get a very nice looking crew-card with a mug-shot on the front. This has got me past a bevvy of security guards....

According to the French AIP entry for LFPL; 'customs: NIL'

Um. Very bad indeed then. Someone better tell Jeppesen and if one of you flies there I'd be very grateful if you can ask on the spot what the situation is. I have relied on Longes being the last Customs place around Paris.....

Apears to me that France is more and more becoming a place to avoid. First the customs cut from almost everywhere, then them fining foreign pilots who go to AFIS aerodromes without a Level 4 in FRENCH....

I know the whole situation is ridiculous because now unless you go to Le Bourget (which is silly for a light piston) you are left with either doing a stop elsewhere, Beauvais or Lille, neither of which are very satisfactory because they are so far away...

Done some more research and Beauvais actually has a coach service non-stop to Paris which takes about 1h15 apparently. Drops you at Porte Maillot near the Arc de Triumphe so that could actually be reasonably convenient because the coach leaves directly from the airport...might try that next time...

Abbeville is right en route, it still has Customs etc for a simple fax or phone call, petrol available plus restaurant & hotel on site. Clear there quickly and inexpensively before choosing which GA airport close to Paris suits you best.

mike hallam

Have people really been fined for using a French only airport without level 4 French? Has it been officially reported, or just a rumour?

We do our own AIRCREW cards - I'm constantly amazed by how they're accepted all over the world! :)

I have only seen the "french only" statement applicable "in absence of ATC" or "in absence of AFIS" (i.e. Beauvais, Muret, Auch, Lasbordes...). In that case, since it becomes a non controlled airfield, how could they force you to use french (or even to use the radio at all!)
I undestand this as an advice, for you to know that probably there will be nobody speaking english at your arrival, but nothing more that that.

It was reported to AOPA UK last year I think that a British pilot had been accosted at a French airfield and told by some official that he should not be using it unless he had French on his licence. AOPA did investigate I think but I never heard anything more about it. Certainly this thread was the first I'd heard of people actually being fined.

My memory of this was that it was an English pilot who arrived at a "French only" field, made an overhead join (which is not standard procedure in France) flew the circuit making RT calls in English and thereby upset the locals, somewhat...

Unless this was a different case?

Dublinpilot,

it has been quite widely reported here in Switzerland that several pilots operating out of there who have been operating for decades into those small airfields. One report even claims that a pilot operating NORDO with all respective permissions got fined.

It is also reported that one part of Germany has now started the same b.s, or is about to.

So you'll need a French LP4 in order to land on (FR) airports and you will likely need a German LP4 to land on certain airports there.

I say, stop the madness and make the LP requirements for controlled airspace/airports only. Otherwise, unless you speak all the ICAO Languages in existence in Europe, VFR flying into small airfields can become impossible in the very near future.

Which is exactly what the little dictators in Brussels and other places are trying to achieve. :yuk::yuk:

Douane à Toussus-le-Noble?
 

Hi all,

Reviving this old thread to ask if someone can clarify whether customs have returned to Toussus? The French AIP entry seems to show it is available?

Thanks,



/h88

My reading of it is that it is only available for domestic, Schengen and non EU
Schengen, e.g Switzerland. Non Schengen prohibited. I hope I'm wrong.

7AC, can I ask for a source of that? The LFPN entry in French AIP I accessed on the SIA website reads HX O/R PN 24 HR - no fixed hours, on request 24 h in advance. No mention of availability only to some class of arrivals. Are you saying this is outdated?

Thanks,



/h88

This is meant to be the definative list

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...09:0017:EN:PDF

But I'd agree, the entry on the plate available from Eurocontrol and the French SIA says customs available at LFPN with 24hrs notice

https://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv..._AD-2.LFPN.pdf

Straight from the horse's mouth
 

Thanks for the list, wsmempson, I was looking for something definite in their AIP but probably in the wrong parts of it.

Right after posting here this morning, I received a very kind and helpful reply to my inquiry to their local Customs, along the lines of:

That settles it. Not sure if it's the best idea to get it NOTAMed rather than update the AIP AD entry, but hey, what do I know.



/h88

The source was the Notam I read on Friday last when pre-flighting.

"REF:B1215/14QCode:FZLT From: 2014-Mar-25 Tue 14:06 To: 2014-Oct-28 Tue 23:59 ICAO:LFPNTOUSSUS LE NOBLE CUSTOMS, POLICE: - FLIGHTS INSIDE SCHENGEN AND EU AREAS : AUTHORIZED WITH CONDITIONS, REFERS TO WWW.DOUANE.GOUV.FR - FLIGHTS INSIDE SCHENGEN AREA AND OUTSIDE EU : HX O/R PN 24HR FAX +33 0174259627 EMAIL: SR-DUGNY AT DOUANE.FINANCES.GOUV.FR - FLIGHTS OUTSIDE SCHENGEN FORBIDDEN."