Flyingfish wrote:
If this new law really removes the need for a customs airport on the EU side it is a major game changer for me… I typically commute between a non customs french airport and a customs- capable Swiss one….
Are there no such similar regulations for Swiss customs ? Can you land anywhere in Switzerland when crossing the boarder?
LeSving wrote:
Are there no such similar regulations for Swiss customs ? Can you land anywhere in Switzerland when crossing the boarder?
Yes and no… the majority of fields, even small ones, are customs approved to exit or enter CHE, as long as no goods are carried. Valid only for EU countries.
Usually an electronic form is filled online, at least 1h prior departure, or 2h before returning. This form has to be confirmed, usually by phone to the airfield, which will in turn advise customs, who in turn might decide to come have a look… or not.
Flyingfish wrote:
If this new law really removes the need for a customs airport on the EU side it is a major game changer for me…
That is, or would be a MAJOR GAME CHANGER to all CHE based pilots, + visitors!!!
Being Schengen for people, but having to go customs airfield for the aircraft itself (yes, simplified view) has always been a non-sense. Try implementing the same circus we have been taking part in for ages to the ground based traffic…
LeSving wrote:
Say “Your aircraft” = mean of transport and OK for temporary admission without declaration, how about rented aircraft? or my cousin TB20?
Why should it matter? The moment you fly an aircraft, let’s say from Norway to Sweden or the opposite, you are de facto importing that aircraft. Who the owner is doesn’t matter.
Implicitly importing the plane for temporary admission as personal means of transportation is only one of the legal aspects. And this is solved now. But that doesn’t mean, that we can now regard the border as non existent and believe, that all other questions are solved as well, e.g.:
- If you have “paying passengers” – even if under the regulation of your origin country would regard the compensation you get as non business “cost sharing” – it could be regarded as a business in your destination country and therefore the airplane no longer a personal means of transportation.
- If you fly a rented airplane, obviously someone else is making a business with that plane. Completely independent of the port of entry questions, customs can be tricky for rental means of transportation (car rental companies can tell…).
Malibuflyer wrote:
But that doesn’t mean, that we can now regard the border as non existent and believe, that all other questions are solved as well
I agree, anytime (lot of) money changes hand strict rules (taxes, duties, insurance…) when crossing borders tend to apply !
You can call it “fiscal interest” 
Perhaps, but that is dependent on what the law actually say. It probably say non commercial operation ? Renting the plane from a commercial airplane renting facility, is very different (commercially) from renting from a non profit aeroclub, or simply loaning a plane from a friend (even if you pay him for the trip).
LeSving wrote:
Renting the plane from a commercial airplane renting facility, is very different (commercially) from renting from a non profit aeroclub, or simply loaning a plane from a friend (even if you pay him for the trip).
Indeed, that is the case only commercial use gets scrutinized but the law can get stretched to other aberrations when “your friend/friend is not allowed to drive it”, say he is “Swedish resident” owning “Norway car” and he let you as “Norway resident” drive it in Sweden for him, customs will have Duty/VAT interest in that as well
LeSving wrote:
Renting the plane from a commercial airplane renting facility, is very different (commercially) from renting from a non profit aeroclub, or simply loaning a plane from a friend (even if you pay him for the trip).
As always there is a lot to be considered in the fine print: What might qualify as not for profit in one country might be considered differently in your target country. Some countries make a difference if you loan it from a friend, others don’t (and in others again the plane “of your friend” might technically belong to a for profit company).
Let’s face it: Situation has become much better for those of us, who privately (i.e.: not through a company) operate their own airplane and want to fly abroad by ourselves w/o paying guests. All others still need to be very sure they know what they are doing when crossing borders.
As promised, I did send an E-Mail to our German customs office, how is responsible for my German homebase. Meanwhile, I only got a reply that they had to forward my message to “further investigate” on my request. And yes, I did send it directly to the responsible department for airports. The fact that they couldn’t answer my questions directly, confirms my carefulness on this topic. Even if the law is on our side, customs officers could still make our lives pretty hard if they think something ‘else’.
Flyingfish wrote:
And just last year (2020) 100 Swiss francs by Lausanne customs for attempting to depart TO a transit destination outside Schengen without presenting our luggage to Swiss customs. I repeat: OutboundJust for not presenting your luggage?! That’s something completely new for me! I never “present” my luggage at the customs office on Swiss airports, when I have nothing special to declare. On customs airports like LSZB, LSZR, LSGS or LSZA, I just exit or enter the airport and expect that customs officers will meet up, in case they want to check. Otherwise (if nobody is there), I assume that it is all OK, because I use a full customs airport. Regarding other airfields: I comply with the PNR times, forms and regulations. But if customs doesn’t show up at ETD (prior departure) or ETA (post arrival), I might assume (at least in Switzerland), that they are not interested for a check. Maybe Lausanne (LSGL) is a special case?
It’s just plain stupid, and I’m glad to hear that EU has finally fixed this on their side (I can’t remember this to be even an issue when going to Sweden, even decades ago, but maybe I have been smuggling all this time?Yes, Sweden allows (private) arrivals and departures from non-EU countries to all of it’s airports and airfields for decades already. It is even noted in the AIP (GEN 1.2 and 1.3).
I just checked French AIP with regards to temporary admission of aircraft on GA private flights, I can’t see anything about landing in PoE for customs? the only requirement to use PoE is for immigration, this explains why it was possible to fly Switzerland to Toussus even if it’s NOT point of entry as long as “nothing to declare” applies….
- GEN1.2 give same concession as “EU regulations 2020/877” for aircraft circulation (= goods VAT/Duty), no mention of landing airports
- GEN1.3 asks to land on PoE for immigration purposes (= people passports/visas), it gives the list of airports
If “nothing to declare”, you could argue that all airfields in France are “customs airports” but only few are “immigration airports”…
Customs procedures applicable to aircraft flying unscheduted flights
Customs regulation applicable to temporary admission for aircraft:
Any aircraft destined to be temporarily used, before being re-exported, on the community customs territory can be placed under the temporary admission customs system. This system enables the use of the aircraft free of duties and taxes, without any modifications being made to the aircraft. Some conditions must be met.
- The aircraft must be registered outside the community customs territory, in the name of a person established outside this territory.
- On paper, it must also be used by a person established outside this territory.
- In the event of commercial use, according to community customs law (transportation of passengers in return for payment, industrial or commercial transport of goods free of charge or in return for payment), the aircraft must be used exclusively for transportation that starts or finishes outside the community customs territory. However, it can be used for internal flights, according to community customs law (boarding and disembarking of passengers or loading and unloading of goods inside the community customs territory), as long as the measures in effect in the field of transportation, notably those concerning the conditions of access to the territory and the implementation of these, allow this possibility.
Placement formalities:
The placement of the aircraft under the temporary admission system can be simplified.
The aircraft is considered as introduced to customs when the border is crossed. 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.
The authorization request can also be constituted by a verbal customs declaration of temporary admission, provided that two copies of an inventory are presented. The authorization for temporary admission is granted by the customs authority’s signature of the inventory which acts as acceptance of the customs declaration.
However, the customs authority can demand a written customs declaration when the amount of import duties is high or when there is a serious possibility of non-compliance with the obligations resulting from the placement under the system.
Excluding the case in which the customs authority demands that the placement under temporary admission must be done through a written declaration, there will be, on paper, no warranty to give.
Period of use:
In the event of commercial use, according to the customs definition of this notion (ref. above), the allowed period of temporary admission is limited to the period needed to perform transportation operations.
In the event of private use, i.e. excluding all aforementioned commercial use, the period is fixed at 6 months
