Svein, I have more sympathy with the Italians in their current
predicament than I have for the Belgians! I suppose that although
irritating, a one off tax of 90 odd euros for a Europa wouldn=99t
be prohibitive for a week spent in Italy ( which I have to say is one of
my favourite places to fly), and if they are going to charge on a per
day or week basis then it amounts to nothing much. There is the point
that as long as flying in from the EU , one is allowed to land at any
strip however small so that avoiding it might not prove too difficult,
although not to drop in on such places as Venice, Verona, Ravenna and
Rome Urbe when in Italy would lose out on much of the point of going
there. We will have to wait & see.
As to Belgium, they have gone quiet since my last letter to
them (attached for your amusement!). Probably the next thing I shall
know is that 2 heavies will turn up at my door to collect the 86 euros +
expenses or take my TV in lieu!
Regards, David, G-XSDJ
From: Sidsel & Svein Johnsen
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 8:49 PM
Subject: SV: Europa-List: trips to Italy looking expensive
>aircraft having spent more than 48 consecutive hours on Italian
territory
>The tax is to be charged at the following annual rates (by reference to
MTOW): 1) up to 1.000 kg., euro 1,50 per kg;
>But visitors are hit. This will kill GA visits to Italy, of couse.
Not a good sign, that is for certain. I appreciate that little is yet
known about this possible tax, but one way to read the above quote from
this evening=99s posting is that if the tax is assessed on an
annual basis, than hopefully it will be pro-rated for part of a year.
For Europas, it would in such case be Euro 2.70 per day (after the first
48 hours). Until further information is available, I will therefore
keep a trip to Italy in my schedule for this coming summer. On this
note: What I =93 and many others - really find unreasonable, is
the fee charged by Belgium for flying through their airspace. Any news
on this subject, David J? Happy New Year to all =93 may we have
only sunshine and tailwinds this coming year! Regards,SveinLN-SKJ
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