This seems to decrease the value of a private IR, except the enroute part.
airport charges are super stress-free, at least where I fly to.
Curious which big airports? only two are usuable in whole Spain for extra-Schengen: San Sebastien and Valladolid
There is Almeria & Jerez but they are PPR, bloody slow plus I need Mrs to speak Spanish and play the fool to get away with basic handling prices
Maybe you are referring to Perpignan? 
When did Perpignan has become Spanish? I must have missed something.š
gallois wrote:
When did Perpignan has become Spanish?
Just joking as itās an āeasy airportā to land and fuel rather than the rest of Spain (you still need the PPR on MyHandling), I think Beziers is another good choice for hassle free and was suggested by Emir, I have not tried
Another one in Spain to add is Andorra-LaSeu, which has another joke: French customs did turn up (as Andorra is outside customs union) but they went away when they learned that airport is actually in Spain
Reading this, and the rising costs in general, I am currently having a look into the french UL world.
As most know, France alone has a lot to offer in terms of landscapes, wilderness and good food, 150-250nm from home.
Some grass strips look very nice, with a lodge, sometimes a tables dāhotes (no idea how to translate this) or a pool. You just need to take off in 350m.
Having 2 seats is a hindrance but the family I dream of would need at least a cherokee six to fit in. So bringing the car too would be required.
So I tend to see my flying future is closer to Berry&Rotax than Kithira&TSIO.
Jujupilote wrote
sometimes a tables dāhotes (no idea how to translate this)
āA bed-and-breakfast where the guests have dinner (the table) with the owner (the host)ā?
I canāt think of a anything more concise.
Jujupilote wrote:
This seems to decrease the value of a private IR, except the enroute part.
That is a factor indeed. And more so, it forces people out of āsafeā IFR airports and into VFR arrivals in often less than optimal conditions.
If CAAās allow outpricing, they should be very much supporting IFR approaches into the 2ndary GA Airports.
The problem is that the European IR community has always been tiny ā because the IR here has always been intentionally pitched to be hard to get (and the CBIR has changed little) and IFR GA traffic isnāt big enough to alter the situation.
Yes indeed the utility value of an IR depends strongly on whether one can fly somewhere with it.
Already the world we fly in is different to how it was when I started 20 years ago, and our children will be flying in a different world again. The main difference is costs; while very few airports actually disallow GA, rather a lot have gone from say 20 quid to 200 quid. 20 was always a bit ridiculous (the taxi costs more, usually) but 200 kills the proposition, except as a rare trip. And then you get the German-owned Fraport activities in Greece, driving them to 400 or so.
Peter wrote:
20 was always a bit ridiculous (the taxi costs more, usually) but 200 kills the proposition, except as a rare trip. And then you get the German-owned Fraport activities in Greece, driving them to 400 or so.
@Peter, and then you have Farnborough with Ā£600+ for a day trip in C150. Stanstead is cheaper! Iām not sure if it is justifiable. Far from London, nothing around. Good alternatives (Biggin, for example). Why? Because they can?
Sure, but there is no procedure for preventing a private company charging what it likes.
Europe does not have a ānational transport infrastructureā policy for this.
The Farnborough situation is an absolute scandal. Very few movements, average passenger count is 1.8 (their own admission). And they got CAS, for which you get busted by the CAA! Itās totally perverted. But nothing can be done.
Same happened with Le Bourget in France. I flew there in 2002 ā actually collected my new plane from there. Now, reportedly ā¬700. And no 100LL.
