Flew down to Colmar at the weekend which was stunning – a must-see as a destination and a great GA airport, with the nicest controllers I’ve ever encountered for sure
Having diligently downloaded and completed the 24HR PN customs form from the airport website (two days in advance just to be sure), I arrived expecting to see the Douanes out in full force, or at least one of them, but the airport was deserted.
A man suddenly appeared from a dark office asking if he could help us. I asked him if he’d like to see our passports. He shrugged and replied, “Have you flown from North Korea?”. “Erm, no…” said I. “Well, in that case”, said he, “we are not interested”, then beamed the widest grin and ushered us to the exit.
Aviation is full of surprises.
There is a fantastic Christmas Market there from November. A few of us from EuroGA went a couple of years ago. Well worth a visit, especially as you now know its GA friendly.
I had the opposite experience. Three douaniers looked at all our luggage and personal effects. Perhaps they mistook our departure point… North London for North Korea…. :)