Professional Pilot, September 2016

Operating to smaller and remote locations F rom time to time operators have requirements to travel to remote locations and smaller airfields around the world You may need to fly out to remote locales in order to manage investments in natural resources for tourism purposes or just a strategic tech stop However these smaller off the beaten path airports often present additional operating challenges impacting everything from permit considerations and security planning to language barriers and credit issues While its possible to orchestrate missions to virtually any destination in the world safely and efficiently given sufficient preplanning its important to be realistic in terms of local support capabilities A remote location can mean different things says Universal Weather Sr Mission Advisor Ray Hoover It may be a far flung smaller Pacific island with nothing else close by a domestic airport in central Africa with security considerations or perhaps a secondary airport in France or Italy that does not experience bizav traffic on a regular basis In most cases its best to allow additional planning lead time and to consider issues such as airport hours curfews fuel and credit availability and ground support capabilities Dont expect the same passenger and crew experience youre accustomed to at larger airports of entry and locations with frequent GA 60 PROFESSIONAL PILOT September 2016 movements If you go in expecting anything more than the most basic services and infrastructure you may be in for a world of frustration suggests Avfuel Account Mgr David Kang The local handler may simply chock your wheels walk away and point toward the main terminal building Even if handlers speak English they may not understand what youre saying and you may end up doing things ground handlers are usually expected to accomplish The good news is that the additional challenges and uncertainties associated with smaller and remote airfield operations can usually be successfully overcome with adequate advance planning assorted contingency plans and managing passenger and crew expectations Unique considerations While planning considerations for smaller remote airports can be pretty much the same worldwide certain locations have unique and additional challenges to consider We frequently encounter issues with GA operations to CXI Cassidy Intl Christmas Island Kiribati says Jeppesen Vendor Relations Mgr Asia Pacific South America Jan Hanna The larger problem is often in terms of communication and this can be very difficult It usually works best to make arrangements via TRW Bonriki Intl Tarawa Kiribati as theyll help triangulate everything including coordination of fuel services and communications Still theres no guarantee everything will go as planned the day of operation Hoover points out that if you want to make an international arrival at BOB Bora Bora French Polynesia its critical to begin planning early BOB is pretty much a sunrise to sunset operation and difficult to use as an airport of entry Youll need to provide 3 to 4 weeks notice to arrange for local customs immigration clearance Many operators choose to fly in a supervisory agent from PPT Papeete French Polynesia at their expense to oversee and coordinate local handling The moral of the story is that its not best practice to just blast off to remote locations with limited infrastructure ground support equipment and handling resources Its important to weight your experience and abilities in terms of managing fairly independently at these smaller and more remote locales You cant just fly off to places that do not have adequate support infrastructure says Hanna The local handler may not be able to support you and or fuel may not be available until the next tanker delivery There are airports in the Pacific including MAJ Majuro Marshall Islands and PNI Pohnpei Federated States of INTERNATIONAL OPS Gather as much information as possible on the intended destination before leaving on the trip Dassault Falcon 7X on arrival into ARK Arusha Tanzania This 5377 ft strip serves communities in the north of the country and has limited familiarity with bizav However with advance planning your mission here will be a success By Grant McLaren Editor at Large