Although I am always suspicious of ‘hearsay’, especially when the Custom’s source is not named, the following posting has recently appeared on the SkyDemon Calais Pilot notes:
“ From now on, even if you use the Customs Flight Forecast on the Calais Airport website iaw the French AIP, if you arrive at LFAC and there are no customs officers you must now fly into LFAT to clear customs and get the required passport stamp for UK passport holders (Informed by customs on 27/03/22).”
Are others aware of this requirement?
And what if one’s arrival is ‘Commercial’ – when no stamp is required?
There is load of talks here & there but here are few legal ropes, if this is really concern, I think one is better off flying to Ostend or Lille as they have “permanent customs” with no PNR and they surely have stamps 
A You don’t need to see customs face to face in Calais (unless you are looking to import an aircraft), all you have to do is to PNR and land in AIU airport (like Calais) and depart, no legal need to see anyone, see French AIP GEN1.2.1, "the aircraft is put in temporary admission by the simple act of landing’, see AIP GEN ‘aircraft is considered… if there is no customs intervention, the declaration for its placement under the temporary admission system is considered as accepted and the release as granted when the border is crossed "
B French AIP GEN1.3.2: for immigration, all you have to do is to PNR and land at POE airport (like Calais), if passport need to be stamped it could be a problem but it’s not “la mer à boire”, if you read SBC law texts, they have exemption from face-to-face for passport stamps, still the burden is on pilot/pax to provide evidences that they enter/exit legally “Article 11 of the SBC introduces ….”
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52009DC0489&from=EN
Now I am not sure how A & B means “you have to fly to L2K”?
I am not aware of “commercial, professional” CPL/ATPL holders being treated differently in immigration & customs than “crew on PPL” (they have same treatment & same few exemption in SBC & AIP laws), do you have a reference that passport stamps are not required for “commercial pilots”? if it’s the case then I guess their work visa/permit would be required?
So why does Calais post this BS on their website?
Who is going to give the PN, fly there, land, find the police didn’t turn up (nice wine and cheese back at the office, perhaps ) and then take off and fly elsewhere where there is a “greater probability” of meeting the police (because the president has a house in town)?
It’s like Caen which hardly has more than a few movements.
Peter wrote:
So why does Calais post this BS on their website?
Which BS? The information that Peter_G has quoted was not posted on a website, it was put in the Calais pilot notes in SkyDemon.
Sorry; I misread. So maybe this is just a bogus pilot report in the SD database.
That pilot says “Informed by customs on 27/03/22” – did this actually happen to him, or is this info originating from Customs there? Can somebody contact the pilot?
Could it be that @Ibra like most French pilots when arriving and leaving from a POE where a PN is required, do what is mentioned in the eAIP?
We send an email with passport details of everyone aboard. So Calais douaniers would receive all the details (as you would on a GAR) and that will be kept on record, so no need for a stamp in or out. They are assuming on your honour that you have nothing to declare so can decide whether to turn up or not.
The douaniers don’t always give a stamp at Nantes either, they put your passport in front of.a.biometric scanner in and out.
I still think somebody should contact the pilot. Can he be identified?
There are so many duff reports over the years, and when you try to track own the source, they mysteriously disappear, or can’t remember This is one example. It was obviously a very important topic (especially if you fly an N-reg in France; pre-brexit… now it doesn’t matter much) so I spent some time on it. I won’t name the pilot who originally told me (he was here, briefly, but only to do a windup ) but when I pressed him some time ago he weaseled out of it, saying his source is not contactable.
Regarding passport stamps, they can’t actually mean anything because so often they are wrong. But AIUI there is a Brussels-mandated requirement to put in those stamps, so perhaps the French police sometimes don’t feel like going out to do them (i.e. for Brits). But they don’t have a choice: it is their JOB. If this is what it looks like (and the report is real) then somebody with polical connections ought to look into this. Maybe @Nestor knows more? If this practice is real, and if it spreads (which it is certain to, because who wants to work if they can not work) then another raft of French airports will be effectively closed to UK pilots.
So Calais douaniers would receive all the details (as you would on a GAR) and that will be kept on record, so no need for a stamp in or out. They are assuming on your honour that you have nothing to declare so can decide whether to turn up or not.
Indeed, douniers don’t get into lot of immigration (likely no stamps, no computer), they may check passports or sometime just talk on the ramp, if you send them details and they are happy with them they may not even turn up…the border police (PAF), however is different, they want to see entry/exit stamps and usually also need internet & desk
What happens now is one or two pilots (likely Brits) may have discovered passport stamps for tje first time on UK-Calais-LeTouquet-UK bimble and they are making whole theatre out of it on SkyDemon (likely irrelevant when EES & ETIAS goes live in 2022/2023)
What happens now is one or two pilots (likely Brits) may have discovered passport stamps for tje first time on UK-Calais-LeTouquet-UK bimble and they are making whole theatre out of it on SkyDemon
I don’t understand. “Stamps everywhere” for Brits started on 1/1/2021, and inserting them into passports is the JOB of the police at a port of entry (any Immigration airport) and they do not have the right to refuse to issue them. The refusal of the “stamp police” to turn up was what shut down San Sebastian for maybe 10 years, for UK traffic.
The rumour is true, or it isn’t.
No idea if it’s true or not but it’s irrelevant missing a stamp is not a show stopper, the pilot need to keep traces of his entry/exit and end of story? if one is keen on getting a stamp they better go to L2K, Lille or Ostend…
Same in UK, if you are flying with someone who really need to get UKBF stamps (say student on temporary visa in UK) you will need to land at Southend or Biggin with 24h GAR PNR before flying to Little Snoring
