Corfu
Via France and Italy

Date of Visit = July 1999

Pilot: = Dave Crocker

e-mail = dcrocker@imsltd.com

Field Report = Italy and Corfu The first leg (Blackbushe-Cannes) was uneventful. Cannes was cheaper than I remembered it (about FF54 for a 2-hour stop).

The trouble started with the 2nd leg. I had filed to fly IFR from Cannes to overhead Verona and then VFR up the valley to Trento.

My filed departure time was 2 hours after I arrived at Cannes, but I was told there was a 1-hour slot delay. As this would possibly have given me trouble arriving at Trento on time, and I was ready to leave immediately, I phoned Nice AIS and asked if I could bring forward my filed departure time by 1 hour and get an earlier slot.

Big mistake! My original FPL got cancelled and the new FPL came back with a 3 hour slot delay (and no chance to reach Trento before they closed).

This left me with the choice of staying at Cannes overnight or flying VFR to Trento. So I spent an hour studying the VFR chart, trying to find a suitable route.

Northern Italy has a large chunk of Class A airspace from 2000 feet and sometimes 1000 feet AGL upwards.

I eventually chose a route that avoided the most of the hilly areas.

Once airborne, the next problem was communicating with Milan FIS, whose command of aeronautical English was poor Eventually I did get the message across that I needed a clearance to penetrate some class D airspace and they co-ordinated with the controller concerned. When I reached the military area around Verona, things were much better - the military controllers at Garda Approach spoke good English and offered me zone transit and a RIS.

Trento airport was superb - controllers very friendly, fuel no problem, beautiful setting in a narrow valley. I chose to file my flight plans from Trento to Corfu (via Naples) a day early, which was just as well as both were rejected by IFPS. I persuaded Verona AIS to resubmit them with a request to adjust the routing as necessary, and they came back accepted with minor route changes. I still have no idea why the original routes were not accepted.

I have since learned that adding "RMK / IFPS AMENDMENT ACCEPTABLE" to IFR flight plans means that rejected plans will be changed automatically.

The flight to Naples was uneventful. I had chosen Naples as a refuelling stop having received conflicting advice ("Naples is an easy fuel stop" and "avoid Naples like the plague"). The alternative would have been Rome Ciampino, but I already knew they could be slow there, also I had been told that Avgas is very expensive in Greece so I preferred to refuel further south. In he event, Naples was not expensive, but the handling agent (Gesac) was slow - lots of paperwork to fill in, also Gesac told us they would call for a bowser, but after waiting for ages we eventually found we had to taxy to the flying club for Avgas.

The flight to Corfu went smoothly. IFR traffic at Corfu is handled non-radar but ATC did a superb job of separating us procedurally using position reports.

I had been told that handling at Corfu (by Olympic Airways) was very expensive but could be refused, but I had decided to pay it the first time anyway until familiar with the airport. In the event, it turned out that handling is now compulsory there, but the rates are much lower than before (24 Euros), also we did get a good service. Landing and a week's parking came to about GBP 10.

Avgas at Corfu turned out to be DRX 456 (about GBP1) per litre plus 18% VAT.

Tax-free fuel is available for business flights, but you need written documentation that the flight is business (an AOC certificate would certainly have sufficed, but I had the impression that lesser documentation would have been acceptable).

Leaving Corfu a week later, I was surprised to be told "sorry, no squawk" when I queried receiving an IFR departure clearance without one. Even if Corfu has no radar, I would have thought Brindisi would have liked to see who was coming. Maybe there is an unofficial squawk used by the airlines when in Greek airspace and heading on airways towards Italy?

Landed back at Blackbushe nearly 14 hours later (headwinds all the way), having stopped at Bastia and Clermont-Ferrand. Overall, an enjoyable if sometimes frustrating trip.