In the French AIP most Customs and Immigration officers come under the heading douane
This has varied over time but this appears currently:
I was really looking at the e-mail addresses.
I was really looking at the e-mail addresses.
It would be a huge step forward if all the french airports with similar PN procedures would use such a clearly worded and unambiguous format.
With these massive fines and prison sentences threatened, it would be a huge step forward if these mismanaged but aggressive government outposts had an auto responder on their email, so one had proof that they got the email 
Only a fool will fly to such an airport without a positive confirmation that they got the PN. Currently I am trying to organise a collection of some goods at Caen and no way would I go without the confirmation.
This of course rules out trips on the next day, unless you start early enough the previous day to email them and phone them.
Agree. It is doable, as a positive example we recently cleared customs from Switzerland at Pontarlier/LFSP. Within 30 minutes we did get the confirmation from [email protected]. Even signed and friendly worded in person by the customs officer in charge and not a robot.
While all true, the bottom line is that we all know that customs and immigration all around the EU is a huge PITA for GA pilots and this Corona exception just adds a bit more pain. Regardless of all attempts to minimize risk there remains a residual risk that needs to be accepted or one just flies nationally or through international airports with permanent immigration & customs. I’m sure there there are several (many?) pilots based in France, Germany, Austria, Italy that are unaware and continue to nonchalantly fly back and forth between airfields across these Schengen borders. This poor fellow just had the misfortune to get caught.
Bleriot wrote:
Agree. It is doable, as a positive example we recently cleared customs from Switzerland at Pontarlier/LFSP. Within 30 minutes we did get the confirmation from [email protected]. Even signed and friendly worded in person by the customs officer in charge and not a robot.
An entire group from Switzerland flew to/from France in July via this route using Pontarlier/LFSP and Annemasse/LFLI, despite the fact that neither is on the official list received in July from French customs in Metz (translated from the French):
the community text C261/6 published in the OJEU of July 25, 2018 includes the list of authorized crossing points.
On the civil aviation website (SIA) you will find, for each of these airports, a sheet listing the various formalities: paragraph n° 9 concerns customs
Please note that some of the information sheets have not been updated. (the Bourgogne-Franche Comté region is now managed by the Metz customs operational center)
To arrive at another airport other than those authorized (in the list of July 25, 2018), the principle is to land at an airport on the list of text C261/6 of July 25, 2018 in order to be able to complete the necessary formalities and then leave for this destination airport by a domestic flight. Same for departures, ….
Please contact the airport managers for the formalities governing them
Be careful, also to meet the anti-covid sanitary measures in force at the time of the flight.
Sincerely
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
ANNEXE_Texte_C261_6_paru_au_JOUE_du_25_juillet_2018_MAJ_Points_de_Passage_pdf
Ibra wrote:
If you are flying Belgium to Annecy (it’s a PoE with no permanent CU/PAF?), you need to PNR/PPR aerodrome operator or directly customs for ANY international flight, you won’t need any formalities when Schengen is ON but you may need them when Schengen is OFFArticle9 (non PoE) & Article12 (PoE with no permanent customs) seems to list all the legal provisions
I’m sorry @Ibra but I still disagree with your analysis. The link you posted, which I have looked at just now does indeed say this is true for flights extra-schengen (which makes sense) and Intra-Schengen but only Outre mer. Europe is not within that Outre-Mer region. My view as per before (and I would say by now this is tried and tested) is that within Schengen none of this is required. If Customs want to show up, they can, they have the flight plan, but nothing else is required unless specifically mentioned in the AIP. Some airports will chose to be overly Zealous, others will take a more commercial approach and not adopt that attitude.
Edited this as obviously I’ve been doing some digging ;-). But If I were our Dutch friends who got the fine I would be appealing, France does not seem to have fully specified the extend of the border restrictions and they may well prove to be completely unenforceable. have a look at the official documents on this https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/schengen/reintroduction-border-control_en France’s restrictions are still unpublished (and thus not specified which renders them void)
The Schengen Borders Code (SBC) provides Member States with the capability of temporarily reintroducing border control at the internal borders in the event of a serious threat to public policy or internal security.
The reintroduction of border control at the internal borders must be applied as a last resort measure, in exceptional situations, and must respect the principle of proportionality.
The duration of such a temporary reintroduction of border control at the internal borders is limited in time, depending on the legal basis invoked by the Member State introducing such border control.
The scope and duration of reintroduced border control should be restricted to the bare minimum needed to respond to the threat in question. Reintroducing border control at the internal border should only be used as a measure of last resort.
The reintroduction of border control is a prerogative of the Member States. The Commission may issue an opinion regarding the necessity of the measure and its proportionality but cannot veto a Member State’s decision to reintroduce border control.
all does not see lost…
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_2708
LFHNflightstudent wrote:
The link you posted, which I have looked at just now does indeed say this is true for flights extra-schengen (which makes sense) and Intra-Schengen but only Outre mer
The wording of Artcile12 is vague and it’s scope does not make sense: it mixes up DOM/TOM with Euro mainland (how many GA flights go to/from Belgium to New Caledonia using PoE/PPF airport with no permanent customs?), for sure the situation of DOM/TOM is different than metropolitan land but it does shed some light on how C&I treats “temporary Shengen OFF exception”, I had same story when planning out-return France/Spain/Melilla/Morocco, that trip need 6 PN emails to be on the safe side…
IMO the legal situation for PoE/PPF airports for ANY international flight ANY time is far from crystal clear, this leads to power abuse, this is not an issue when the airport has a backdoor that you are entiteled to use and exercise “Shengen freedom of mouvement right”, if you have to use the main terminal gate you will have to show your ID paper even for a national flight and from there things can go downhill with security personel, sanitary patrols, immigration police and customs…
PS: last October I landed in Cannes from Toussus/Propriano, we were forced to use main terminal to get our “corona check” which end up as “customs X-ray bags check”
The wording of Artcile12 is vague and it’s scope does not make sense: it mixes up DOM/TOM with Euro mainland (how many GA flights go to/from Belgium to New Caledonia using PoE/PPF airport with no permanent customs?
I have a vague suspicion art. 12 isn’t exactly written with lawnmower GA in mind.
