Plastic Pilot

Each spring, Geneva airport hosts the EBACE (European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition), one of the most important exhibition of its kind. It is the opportunity to see business jets, but also advances in light aircraft technology. The video about the Cirrus Perspective has been made there by AVWeb.

This is a funny place to be, but it mostly addresses professionals. The 250$ admission fee make it a bit expensive for a simple “touristic” visit. It’s also a great opportunity for spotters, as new and prototype aircraft are coming.

However, for pilots and flight schools based in Geneva, EBACE also has some negative aspects. The show is officially open from 20th to 22nd of May, but the NOTAMs “protecting” it last for much longer:

LSSN-A0192/08
A) LSGG GENEVE/COINTRIN
B) 200805170300 C) 200805232200
E) DUE TO HEAVY TFC DRG BUSINESS AVIATION EXHIBITION (EBACE) PPR MANDATORY FOR ALL FLT USING CONC RWY, EXC COMMERCIAL SKED TFC. TEST, TRAINING AND SCHOOL FLT INCLUDING DEP TO OTHER AD PROHIBITED.

LSSN-B0492/08
A) LSGG GENEVE/COINTRIN
B) 200805200000 C) 200805222359
E) DUE TO EBACE EXHIBITION, PPR FOR VFR FLT ON GRASS RWY.
CTC CUST SER …41 (0) 22 417 43 43 BFR SUBMITTING COMPULSORY PLN

If you can’t read a NOTAM, these basically say that all non-airline flights using the concrete runway must obtain a permission from the airport management, and that no training, school, technical test, or examination flight will be accepted. Usage of the grass runway is also subject to a permission, but at least the grass is available for flight training. Sadly, no IFR operations are possible using the grass runway.

The restrictions on the concrete runway are in force from the 17th to the 23rd, and those on the grass runway from 20th to 22nd. They do not mean it is impossible to use the concrete runway (except for training…), but obtaining PPRs will not exactly easy. By the time I’m writing this post, there are no ones left for tomorrow nor the day after tomorrow. Any “last minute” flight is simply impossible.

I understand well that the airport has to avoid overload, and that for economical reasons priority is given to commercial aviation, but loosing a week of flying is not easy to accept… especially as other restrictions do exist, including all week-ends from Christmas to Easter, because of ski charter traffic, and a dozen of days each spring because of the Geneva Motorshow.

This year, the UEFA Euro Champioship (soccer) will bring its own bunch of limitations. Once again, it does not make flying impossible, but it is one more obstacle. One problem is also that Geneva does not have kind of a “secondary” airport. The next IFR airports are Les Eplatures, Bern, Chambéry, or Annecy, which are all at leat one hour drive away.

Ok, private IFR pilots flying single engines are rather seldom, and have higher requirements than VFR pilots. Somehow, this is no longer a concern for me, as I no longer live in Geneva… but I still have good relations with some club members there.

A final word ? It’s all about good collaboration and mutual understanding. There are lots of things pilots can do to improve integration of general aviation and airlines. Relations between airport management, ATC services and the local aero-club are rather good, but when it comes down to financial issues, commercial traffic will always win. Airport has a limited capacity, just as fuel has increasing prices. At least can one discuss with someone on this front.

This is the time before the next flight I planned in a light aircraft. This will be the longer interruption in my flying activities ever. Before starting training for my IFR, I went through a shorter non-flying period, to put enough money aside.

We have been living in Frankfurt area for one month now, and thing get settled slowly. We feel more and more “at home”, but budget-wise it’s too soon for flying. My priority is still to keep my ratings alive. So I need 12 hours after the 5th of August 2008.

The plan now is to go to both London and Geneva. We’ll drive to Geneva to see family and friends, and then fly out of there to London, thus taking benefit of EasyJet prices. The flying part of the trip will be at both West London Aero Club (WLAC) and Geneva Aeroclub.

There is no exact planning for London right now. The fleet there is varied, ranging from Piper SuperCub to Piper Saratoga. Flying a Saratoga over England sounds tempting, and given the number of airfields in the London area, this could be the opportunity to realize the 12 Airports Project, but in a different region. For budget and objective, the Saratoga is may be not the best plane: it flies fast, so flies less, and is not exactly cheap.

A SuperCub familiarization - first tail-wheel for me - also sounds tempting. The White-Waltham grass is perfect for that, and it seems possible to pack it within the time we’ll spend there. Another variant could be simply flying around London in a PA28.

The Geneva part is more easy. The club recently received a DA40 TDI with G1000, so I’ll profit from it. It will probably be a mixture of VFR and IFR, and I’ll try to bring G1000 photos for the blog, possibly with the terrain page when flying in the Alps. I don’t know if this G1000 will already be retrofitted with the Synthetic Vision System… that would be a dream.

As always when making plans with short and fixed time frame, I now have to cross fingers for having good weather. August shall not be that bad, but if you could cross fingers as well for me, I’ll appreciate that !

Geneva is the airport in this series I know the best. I used to work there, and I probably flew out of Geneva a hundred times. This review is thus biased, but probably just as much as others. This whole series is subjective as it’s based on my personal experience.

Getting to the Geneva airport is quite easy. There are train (10 minutes) and bus (20 minutes) connections to the city center. The airport is also connected to the motorway, but getting their by car at peak times can lead to serious parking problems.

The flight connections to Europe are really good, mostly because Geneva is one of EasyJet bases. The orange company operates to 39 destinations. Most european airlines also have flight between their hubs and Geneva. Even if a Swiss flight to New-York and a Continental connection to Newark make Geneva an intercontinental airport, flying outside Europe will most of time require a connection through Frankfurt, Paris or London.

One of the recurent problems as a passenger is the number of desks for passport control. There are two of them for departures, and up to four for arrivals. I arrived a couple of times right after a flight from Kuwait, and spend up to 30 minutes in the queue.

In winter, many charter airlines operate week-end flight for skiers. This create additional traffic and the terminal can get more than crowded on such occasions. Processing all skis as special luggage don’t make the transit faster.

In terms of walking time to the gates, terminal A is fine. Simply cross passport check, security, and you’re there. But if you have to go through gates B, expect up to 10 minutes of walking and stairs. On the plus side, there are separate security screenings for gates A and B.

The shopping area are mid-sized, and prices are as expected… high. One bad point: coffee-shops in the transit area open at 6am, but some flight start boarding before, so a morning coffee is not always granted !

One final particularity: given its geographic situation, there is a french sector in Geneva airport. All flight to France depart from there. You can access it by car from a French road, or clear french customs from the main terminal. This makes things much easier upon arrival in a french airport, because flight from Geneva are considered as domestic flights when arriving in France.

So all in all, Geneva is not a bad airport for European travel, and the works going on will probably improve it. Now that it crossed the mark of 10 million passengers a year, it’s time for improvement.