Hi all,
if I want to pick someone up at Biggin Hill (flying on an IFR flight plan to B.H., no official entry, pickup, and flight back) – is that currently possible or do I need a ton of documents and prior permissions ?
I have lost track of whats doable and what not, so short help appreciated…
Thanks
The main thread is here.
GAR
PLF
any airport PPR (phone them to be sure)
If dual vacced should be simple, otherwise not.
When I did the same thing recently, collecting a load of donated TKS fluid from Caen LFRK, I contacted the airport directly for the exact procedure. It is determined by the on-site police, and Biggin has permanent police AFAIK.
You need to send an arrival GAR & your PLF (Biggin Hill has permanent UKBF but these apply regardless even for tech stop and staying one day), you need FPL (no PPR to Biggin when you have an I-FPL but call them to check and explain) and that is it 
The issue is your pax need to find his way without you (e.g. high-vis jacket, Passport/ID) , if you need to go and get them things may get complicated
I flew to Biggin last year during lock down in May 2020 to pick my wife, I am sure they can accommodate your request: with Southend they were the only open airports in UK SE, back then as the rules were not clear and many other GA airports were s***t scared of catching the French COVID variant, or CAA getting angry to shut their operations down or UKBF to fine them for accepting foreign aircrafts or getting in troubles with Public Health England
just called them, seems to be quite easy if I’m crew and don’t leave the tarmac… I just present myself to border police, wait for the person and off we go; and if I want to enter the country I present my passport and fill out the locator form. Seems straightforward.
There is a new way to file GARs here which the UK Border Force have recently insisted I use. I think this is the link. https://www.submit-general-aviation-report.service.gov.uk/welcome/index
I still use email but in addition to the standard address [email protected] I send it to my local branch (in Newhaven).
The new govt GAR website is horrible. Perhaps its best feature is that it complies with the requirements to be usable by blind people (many pilots?) as well as being LGBTQ+ compliant. If I had to use it, I would change to OnlineGAR. All you ever wanted to know but were too shy to ask (Woody Allen?) is here.
The way this stuff should work is that if you stay on the tarmac you don’t need any docs presented. In reality the police want to see your passport, and in the UK they will say they also want a GAR and PLF… usually 
Like I said, phoning up Biggin gets you the exact answer. They should want to see a GAR+PLF for your passenger. The PLF is a whole new game… see the link I posted above on test kits, the magic number, etc.
