Documents to fly to UK (from NL)

NicoKM wrote:

I understand I have to submit a GAR, is it the only thing to do? Do I have to submit one for the inbound flight and one for the outbound flight?

@NicoKM, yes GAR x 2, but EGTK people could confirm if anything else is needed. Flight plan?

NicoKM wrote:

Also, I looked at the reports for EGTK on the database and the last (and only) one is from 2020.
Any advice regarding the airport from recent visitors?

Been there a year ago (night IFR arrival under IMC), all good, helpful bunch, fairly low-cost, didn’t need any handling…

2×FPL and 2×GAR both 2h before takeoff but you can send earlier

Comming from Europe, UKBF are permanently based and may come to aircraft if they wish to check passports, if they do: you get parked on “spot 1”, after their quick chat, you can leave aircraft parked there just bring “Parking Breaks OFF” that you leave on windshield (someone at reception will ask you to take theirs plastic), otherwise taxi to another parking spot…

On controlled IFR: expect DTY departure and CPT arrival on UK-Netherlands, for both cases, you should get shortcut and chance to overfly the city of London at +FL90 levels

You need 3×other things:

- ATC “Book-in/out”: you call tower ATC to let them know about departure & arrival, this is like getting “airport slot”, nothing to do with your filed flight plan EBOT/CTOT (I never been refused tower booking…in IMC or Night when no one around, they tolerate turning up without ATC booking as long as they get FPL)

- OPS PPR “Permission”: call or email operations to let them know

- Bring and wear high-viz jackets as it’s self-handling (if you hate wearing it, give it to passengers, they love it)

I went there late June 2022, it’s cheap and very hassle free airport with training, friendly staff, super lounge and full facilities

If you are renting car, try “TVR Self Drive” nearby they can deliver to airport or pick at airport, if you are using taxi, the airport is called “Kiddington Aiport” by locals not “London-Oxford Airport”

For anywhere in the UK it is GAR, flight plan, and check the airport for any PN/PPR requirements (which if present can be done with a phone call).

We have no “customs/immigration” airports as such; the GAR form does it.

The UK is basically as simple as international flying gets.

Peter wrote:

We have no “customs/immigration” airports as such; the GAR form does it.

The UK is basically as simple as international flying gets.

Fully agree and really have to applaud to this 👏🏻
Hopefully it’ll stay this way… why do countries on the mainland keep on building up bureaucratic hurdles?

@NicoKM am based at EGTK and yes, even on a flight plan, you need to call ATC beforehand. They are very friendly so don’t expect any problems. Might you add what might be needed for visiting Leystad from Oxford? A friend has bought an airplane there and I might be taking him to pick it up.

Have a look at https://www.gendec.eu/ This website takes care of the GAR and also informes the Dutch border police (marechaussee).

Is the ATC “book in” mandatory with a flight plan? Never heard of it (except for training flights with multiple approaches for which some airports require/prefer to get a heads up). I will fly in IFR, and based on what you said it should not be slot coordinated (also no mention of that on the AIP).

Yes AIP only state “booking” for training I gather on arrival it does not matter if you failed to “book-in “ as you will be handed anyway over to Oxford Radar for vectored ILS, for departures, operations may ask to use their fixed phone to call ATC to “book-out”, so do it on day before you walk to aircraft !

As I said, nothing to do with flight plans slots (you rarely get “airspace slots” in UK, everything gets sorted on tactical basis), best to view “booking” it as separated “aerodrome slot”

funny you have a limit of 1000 GAR’s :)

Funny, do you change name, email or aircraft registration after that?

Nico,

the problem is that the term „booking in“ is not used uniformly.

Sometimes, „booking-in“ is used to mean the act of registering the flight in some kind of log after you landed.

But in the context of other airfields, „booking-in“ is sometimes used as another way of saying „getting PPR“ (before the flight). Which is confusing.

Oxford does exactly that. Their AIP says:

This aerodrome is PPR. Commanders shall book in with Airport Operations in advance on the numbers listed at AD 2.2.

And in these cases, yes, you obviously have to this in addition to your flightplan. but at Biggin Hill for example, filing a flightplan is sufficient for „booking yourself in“.

In general, 99% of UK airports and airfields have at least some sort of PPR requirement.