IO390 wrote:
Copilot provided refuelling services
IO390 is living the life 
La Rochelle has finally modified its notam:
A3084/23 NOTAMR A1975/23
Q) LFBB/QFZXX/IV/NBO/A /000/999/4611N00112W005
A) LFBH B) 2306080908 C) 2309082359
E) CUSTOMS AND POLICE :
- 48HR PN MNM FOR ALL INTERNATIONAL EXTRA-SCHENGEN FLIGHTS:
THIS NOTICE SHOULD BE SENT TO FOLLOWING EMAIL:
. PPF-BSE-LAROCHELLE(AT)DOUANE.FINANCES.GOUV.FR
. CODT-BORDEAUX(AT)DOUANE.FINANCES.GOUV.FR
- INDICATE:
. PN SENDER CONTACT INFO: NAME FIRST NAME, TEL, FAX AND EMAIL
. PN RECIPIENT CONTACT INFO: NAME FIRST NAME, TEL, FAX AND EMAIL.
DATE, EXPECTED TKOF TIME (LOCAL TIME), DEPARTURE AD, DESTINATION
CITY AND COUNTRY, EXPECTED LDG TIME (LOCAL TIME), ARRIVAL AD,
PROVENANCE CITY AND COUNTRY
. ACFT INFO: TYPE, IMMATRICULATION, COMPANY, FLIGHT NUMBER
. FLIGHT TYPE: TOURISM, BUSINESS, FREIGHT OR OTHER
. CREW MEMBERS NUMBER
. PASSENGERS NUMBER
- ATTACH A LIST OF INTENDED CREW AND PASSENGERS, SPECIFYING FOR EACH
OF THEM : NAME, FIRST NAME, NATIONALITY , PASSPORT OR ID CARD NUMBER
- TRANSPORTED GOODS INFO: NATURE, MONEY, SECURITIES AND VALUABLES
PRESENCE, GOODS TO DECLARE.
PASSPORT CONTROL AT CUSTOMS OFFICE IN ARRIVAL HALL NEXT TO GENERAL
AVIATION GATE.
REF AIP : AD 2 LFBH.AD.2.3
CREATED: 08 Jun 2023 09:09:00
SOURCE: EUECYIYN
[ my bold ] – used to be INTRA-SCHENGEN
It’s only taken them a year… This refers.
Well yes, sort of. 
To be safe, doesn‘t change anything coming from Switzerland (although intra-Schengen).
One could fly direct without notifying anyone on the basis that one can fly to any airfield in France dct from Switzerland since crossing the border on a FPL is tacitly ‚nothing to declare‘, and passport control is not needed intra-Schengen. But that would entail considerable risk.
Just got this:
Someone here (UK) emailed La Rochelle customs today about arriving tomorrow, they said “no problem”.
I asked if he wrote it in French; might be relevant.
It means the 48hr PN is a windup. Especially as we know that the police are present all the time.
@chflyer we have not yet got a full clarification on the Schengen non EU situation.
However, this NOTAM change just refers to extra Schengen needing PN.
I am hoping that the information in the NOTAM ie the dropping of the words Intra Schengen will be reflected in the AIP during the next cycle or at least a cycle or two after. These things seem to take 2 or 3 months.
IMO bearing in mind the new EU regs and the fact that only Schengen is referred to and as you write one can fly direct from Switzerland to any small airfield in France, I can see no reason for you to PN customs unless you have something to declare or are carrying more than €10000 in cash. The term baggage/luggage is not referred to in the AIP as such. It refers to personal belongings not needing customs declaration.
For those worried about the aircraft itself that too is covered in the AIP as personal transport and under temporary admission. IIUC from a quick look (I was referred to it by DSAC/DGAC) the a/c can stay for 6 months as long as it is flown by the owner/pilot who is resident in the country of registration for non commercial flights.
I need to re -read this carefully as it is confusing in that gen 1 and enr regs 1 jump around between commercial and non commercial operations and overflight and landings etc.
So I understand your concerns and as I mentioned before am still seeking clarification.
As, it is rare for me to fly between France and Switzerland (although I did fly a return trip to Basle with a CPL friend on business a few weeks ago. We didn’t PN La Rochelle AFAIK but then the aircraft is based there) perhaps you would keep us informed of any reports from Swiss pilots regarding the.changes.
@ Peter none of this affects flights to and from the UK. Sometimes, however, customs will give a little leeway.🙂
These things seem to take 2 or 3 months.
This thread started more than a year ago.
Some countries, in some circumstances, abandon AIP updates and just notam certain things which they consider need a high visibility. LFBH notamed this 48hr PN and never updated the AIP. IMHO this was because some high official made a big stand and wanted the whole world to know.
It’s like Greece notams the airport hours, all year, every year.
Why do you say " some high official?" The PN notification time is set regionally, in the case of LFBH by bse. (AIUI). The AIP says 8hrs PN but from time to time (could be for a number of reasons a NOTAM is necessary to cover a specific time period. Only if it becomes permanent should it enter the AIP.
I can only guess at the reasons to go from 8hrs to 48hrs at LFBH. Perhaps it has something to do with strikes and lack of staff. I would imagine there will be a NOTAM and a change of notice for the rugby world cup coming up in October?
I don’t imagine it has got anything to do with someone making a stand. I did wonder if it was politically motivated originally but I am now of the opinion that it is not the case.
Practically nothing is permanent. Indeed the AIP should contain long term stuff, and the way the system is supposed to work is that notams are incorporated in the AIP at each AIRAC cycle (and the notam is then cancelled). That is unless you do not expect the notamed condition to vary. But here we have had this 48hr PN notam for most (not all) of the last year, plus.
And it now looks like it contained a typo all along… It was an illegal (illegal per schengen treaty) notam all along, except taking into account the treaty provisions for temporary measures for national security which would have hardly been the case at LFBH and almost nowhere else.
I think it’s good that this whole subject was brought up, but that is being a bit over-hyped. The La Rochelle shengen PN thing can now be seen as an obvious typo… And the 48hr thing started just as Covid restrictions finnished, during which time the French slashed away at Douanier numbers just as the numbers travelling increased and Brexit meant they needed more Douanier to implement political policy….So the 48hr thing was and is obviously due to staff shortages, just as all the other GA entry airports changed their PN requirements – Yes it’s annoying and inconvenient for GA, but GA travellers make up a tiny fraction of International travellers that need to be checked, so its the easy option for them.
I think many of the “extra rules and regulations” seen on some airport websites are also a hang-over from Covid. And then there are the places where, because the Douane are there, they check everyone from anywhere abroard, because they are there and can, as its easier to do that than separate people out and inadvertently miss somebody that should have been checked – Eg Cannes. (And I’ve seen this on commercial flight too)
Regards, SD..
skydriller wrote:
but that is being a bit over-hyped
that and ridiculously over “analyzed”. Although I wouldn’t normally use the term analyze in this case More like over-misunderstood. There is no requirement to contact police (immigration) or customs (goods). Not if you don’t have anything requiring their service. But, if you do have something that needs to be declared, then it’s 48 h PN. The only reason for the long time is obviously lack of staff, in particular lack of customs officers by the look of it.
In fact the new one can be seen as an additional worsening. If you indeed have something that must be declared, like weapons or special animals and other such stuff, then La Rochelle cannot be used for that anymore for intra Shengen flights. They now only offers that service for extra-Schengen flights.
