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Tips for port of entry and AVGAS in central/southern Italy

Hi all,

We plan to fly in a few days from Tirana across Italy to either Sardinia or Elba.

We will obviously need a port of entry for clearance back into Schengen and we also want to get AVGAS along the route that is not super expensive (difficult in Italy it seems). The Avgas stop would be nice if it also was a scenic place to have a break at.

For port of entry, i.e. first stop after Tirana, we currently filed Bari/LIBD, reviews seem to be fine.

Any recommendations either as a good alternative for LIBD or any ideas along the route for a nice midday stop over including fuel?

Especially looking at @boscomantico here.

Also happy for any tips regarding Sardina, we are not sure yet which part of the island/airfield to use. We know the area around Olbia (via CAT only so far).

Cheers and thanks

Patrick

Hungriger Wolf (EDHF), Germany

Take a look at the map on our airport database

The green dots are where people have very kindly done reports, but all the dots can be clicked on and you get to the AIP and the notam all in one go (unless the Eurocontrol site is broken). I also have a private site listing several notam sources.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Ancona (LIPY) is a very cheap airport of entry, where you can clear immigration and customs. Paid 35€ in 2019 all-in for 1.000 kg MTOW, coming from Croatia. Except for customs, everything else (immigration, crewbus, invoice and payment) went very fast. Unfortunately, they don’t have Avgas, so you need to continue to Fano or another airport with fuel afterwards. It’s also maybe too far northbound from your desired routing. According to Skydemon, Bari has some negative reviews since 2020, reporting mandatory and expensive handling.

Last Edited by Frans at 21 Jun 13:42
Switzerland

Hi Patrick,

as stated many times already, there are few pleasant and/or unexpensive customs aerodromes in
Italy. Even less of them which carry Avgas.

Just a few ideas: Rome Urbe, being a GA-only airport, is not so expensive but does have customs (mind it‘s PPR to the Ciampino customs office via telephone which is difficult if you don‘t speak Italian.). I don‘t think Avgas is extremely expensive there at the moment.

Pescara could be an option. While it will be bureaucratic and slightly expensive, it will cost less than Bari. Also, Pescara has Avgas, and it is BP which is usually at the lower end of the Italian scale.

L‘Aquila may be a possibility. The AIP says „customs on request“, but do check what that means. They have Avgas and no landing fee if refuelling. This is really an airport that has been moving in the right direction in the last few years.

No customs, but for fuelling and lunch only, Terni LIAA is very popular.

The pages might be helpful if you haven‘t read them already:
http://www.fliegen-in-italien.de/zoll.html
http://www.fliegen-in-italien.de/sprit.html
http://www.fliegen-in-italien.de/sardinien.html

Last Edited by boscomantico at 21 Jun 18:42
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

L‘Aquila may be a possibility. The AIP says „customs on request“, but do check what that means. They have Avgas and no landing fee if refuelling. This is really an airport that has been moving in the right direction in the last few years.

Their Website makes it look like an easygoing airport. Perhaps a good destination for a EuroGA meet up?!

always learning
LO__, Austria

Snoopy wrote:

Their Website makes it look like an easygoing airport. Perhaps a good destination for a EuroGA meet up?!

The comments on SD are also very positive.

Last Edited by Arne at 22 Jun 15:34
ESMK, Sweden

Just keep in mind that the city isn‘t so much of a destination. Since the earthquake of 2009, much of it has been a construction site. Some parts are still untouched or merely secured against further collapse. But hey, for some, that might even be an attaction. For sure, some of the works will have been comcluded by now… I haven‘t been there for almost 10 years now.

Gran Sasso mountain is also not so far away.

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

@boscomantico – The hint with L’Aquila was very helpful. I would not have identified this as an option at all without it and we decided in favor of this airfield over the large coastal airports such as Bari etc.

We had some miscommunication during our approach there which lead to a bit of a situation. I will describe that in detail in the trip report to follow and link it here.

Other than that the airfield is nicely located when crossing Italy and has really had some good developments. Reception on the ground was extremely friendly. The local bunch of flight instructors and some students were planning a trip to Scandinavia on paper charts and I was happy to help them with some good fuel options in the North of Germany.

The customs process worked: We gave prior notification via email and phone to the airfield (English well spoken). They then notify the police, who apparently don’t show up frequently. They didn’t for us.

The restaurant changed ownership recently and we had some great pasta, so it also works really well as a lunch trip! Facilities all very modern.

Hungriger Wolf (EDHF), Germany
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