Hi all. Bringing the Cub back up from Spain, 16th March, routing Cordoba – Teruel – Biarittz-La Rochelle, where we will night stop. The quandary is to refuel at LESO, or LFBZ.
Now. if we pop into LESO, mandatory handling, but I can then go onto LFBH (La Rochelle), and clear customs there. Alternative, drop into LFBZ, (Biarittz) and clear there, refuel, and on to LFBH, but I did read some previous threads on how enthusiastic the local customs may be in Biarittz. All information from the ops teams at both airports have been polite and positive.
Any thoughts or advice?
Have you considered Pamplona LEPP? Handling is not mandatory if under 3.5 Tons (i would say a Piper Cub should qualify…) :-)
And… if your intention is to enter France near LFB and you’re departing from Córdoba, why the detour over Teruel?
We were looking at the restricted areas around Madrid, and either going up left or right. Also max range is 460, and Pamplona is tight. So, I chose Teruel. Could you advise any others. I originally was going into San Sebastián, but I require police/immigration if coming from a non customs departure point. I therefore thought about into Biarittz. Again fuel driven.
San Sebastian can do immigration. I have flown there direct from the UK. But given your needs surely you just want cheap landing fees and fuel. Or are you planning on staying in the towns? If so I would suggest SS is better than Biarritz.
If on a G-reg I don’t think the French regulatory issue will be a problem.
Thanks Jason, I am on Spanish reg. SS confirmed that coming in from any Spanish airport, that did not have customs, would require handling. Yes, you are correct on the cheap landing fees, and fuel. Iberia at SS have quoted 63 Euro, which is not bad.
I come from the (potentially), least hastle;, aspect though. I had read that Biarritz, historically, could be problematic, that said, our paperwork will be totally in order, but I am time limited.
There is a training school for French airport police at Biarritz and there have been reports of them using GA visitors as target practice.
How often this happens, nobody knows, because people who never had a problem obviously don’t say anything. It’s probably rare.
However, Biarritz GA traffic has probably declined massively since they jacked their prices up massively, from the old days when it was €10 or so. I paid about €5 in 2003 
So feedback will be sparse, especially on English language forums. And very few locals will fly there at all.
I would imagine that, as everywhere, the police are not normally overly sophisticated and, like the speed camera teams who come out only on sunny days, they visit aircraft whose profile is unusual in some way. That would also make good training. For example I got picked at back home (Shoreham EGKA) on these notable occassions
(a lot of rain, they clearly thought it was worth the visit)If I am short of time I avoid any airport even rumoured to cause trouble.
Well I have been to Biarritz and had no problems and no visit from anyone but got a full going through in Poitiers. I wouldn’t get too hung up on ramp checks particularly in a EASA reg aircraft. But I like SS and it is a nice town to visit as well.
Thanks Peter. I am looking at all options. My slight issue is that I have to night stop. At this juncture I have booked a hotel at La Rochelle. It gets dark around 5.45 local. Hence the time issue. I would not want to get held for a chat, that would last three hours, and ruin my day. Frankly, any manner of things could go wrong. We are coming up from Cordoba. Any head wind and I will be stuffed anyway. Ahhh, the great planning phase, which no doubt on the day, will go to pot anyway. Actually, having looked at it again, Cordoba-Zaragoza, then dct La Rochelle may work. Appreciate the input.
Went to Biarritz LFBZ twice last year with no problems at all so don’t be put off. However they will your check license and passport thoroughly if/when you exit and enter the airfield so be prepared for that. Fuel may take 20-30 minutes to get service, if you don’t have a fuel card and they have a commercial arrival.
If you email them to say you are coming, you will normally get a prompt reply.
Other option would be to stop at Garray. It has a long (more than 1000m) asphalt runway and supply of AVGAS/MOGAS. It could be a really quick techincal stop if you want. There’s almost no traffic, specially on weekdays. In fact you would need to phone in advance to the aerodrome ‘guy-for-all’ in order to be refuelled, because probably he won’t be there on a wednesday (I have the number if you want). In just 30 minutes maximum you can be departing with full tanks and empty bladder.
LEBA DCT CJN DCT LEGY is 275 nm and you avoid the Madrid CTR. You only would need to respect maximum altitude for VFR sector under Madrid TMA (you would need to go down to 1000’ AGL in one sector, just after CJN)
From LEGY you have 270 nm to La Rochelle in direct line. Maybe 300 if you go, it seems more reasonable, over the french coast instead of over water.
The only problem with LEGY would be the customs/inmmigration, but honestly I don’t know why you need it to cross from Spain into France…
In Zaragoza you need to arrange handling services, and any GA operation needs a 3h PPR for a slot. I don’t know the current situation, but some time ago any slot request was usually rejected for small VFR traffic.
