Hi Juozas,
Do you mean alternate (as in going there in case you can’t land in LESB) or alternative (as in looking for another field than LESB in the first place)? LEIS and LEPT are fine for your NG5.
The Northern mountain range is one big POI 
PM me and we can meet up if you wish!
aart wrote:
we can meet up if you wish
Yes, we can meet too! Weather helping, a few of us will be in the area… mostly Swiss renegades (including a couple of EuroGA members) flying into LEMU Muxtamel on the 5th, and going for lunch to LESL San Luis Aerodrome on February the 6th, before returning to LEMU for more adventures.
PS
I can heartily recommend @aart as the best handling agent I ever had, period
What you probably mean is ‘best value for money’ Dan..
Went to LESB to get my platform access badge renewed. They told me I need to first do a safety course including a test at some outside company.
Of course it does not, and could not, apply for local and foreign pilots landing or departing. The departing ones will be allowed on the platform provided they can show a FPL. But for local pilots that for some reason need to be on the platform without flying, they would need a badge and thus a course. Apparently pilots with a FPL filed know everything about safety and those who don’t are plain stupid in this regard.
Boy, am I happy on ‘my’ airfield where the only safety instruction given by the owner is to avoid running over a turtle on the rwy.
I think I may have a problem welcoming some friend on the platform that comes to visit me via LESB. Not so much because my red carpet is getting too heavy for my poor old back, but because no doubt I will flunk the exam at my age. It’s an outside company that does the course and the exam and they need a % of failures of course, including the repeat business..
Yes, I know Peter’s response already that this is a typical South European corruption scheme
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Does anyone know of a similar requirement, either at another AENA field or in other countries?
aart wrote:
pilots with a FPL filed know everything about safety and those who don’t are plain stupid in this regard
Oh well, nothing new here.
aart wrote:
Does anyone know of a similar requirement, either at another AENA field or in other countries?
Sounds like that infamous French CIME card to me… the future looks bright 🤬
Can’t you just file a flight plan anyway, get airside and then change your mind about going flying (maybe because you realised that you left your aircraft somewhere else)?
I understand memory mistakes become now common as you get older 
Sounds exactly like our CIME card. Only I think the CIME card valid throughout France and supposedly throughout the EU
It’s the EU which is enforcing it
😡
dublinpilot wrote:
Can’t you just file a flight plan anyway, get airside and then change your mind about going flying
I was doing that when I was based at Zagreb airport and wanted to check something on the aircraft or just turn on the engine on a foggy non-flyable day. If you announced aircraft check of any kind then they charged you €100, claiming they had to put the fire brigade on alert. So I used to file the plan, asked for startup, turned the engine on, did what I had to do and then informed tower that I had to cancel the flight due to weather
We have this requirement here at ENVA since I’ve been based here (15 years). It seems similar to the CIME card but we only get access to ENVA with our badge. On the plus side if you are a visitor aircraft they will drive in and out of the field for no extra charges.
The training has to be renewed every 5 years. And I have not learned anything of relevance for a Private Pilot, since this is a requirement and training only designed and targeted for employee working at the airport. I’ve learned that I cannot use my badge if I’m not working for example, which is basically the opposite of my privilege as PPL holder so I’m using the badge for my recreational flying and never when working (in my work I have no reason to access any airport except as a normal passenger).
And yes I learned that I should be helpful and reply to any question from regular airlines passengers (our apron and hangar are not accessible by airlines passengers). All great learnings, really.
The first training I did was in person training and I was surprised to see a dozen 20 years old, a majority being girls since I was under the impression that the training was only for PPL and I had never seen any of the other attendees in the club. They were all student getting the training so they could work in the coffees and shop of the terminal during the summer…
