The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) developed a new GA Airport Fact Sheet tool outlining critical port-of-entry details at more than 300 airports across the United States.
The tool consolidates hundreds of airport fact sheets created and distributed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) highlighting key information such as office hours, entrance and clearance service hours, contact details, landing permission protocols, and insights into the inspection procedures for GA aircraft entering the country.
“One of the biggest issues clearing customs for the GA community is that no two ports of entry are exactly alike,” said Brian Koester, CAM, NBAA director, flight operations and regulations. “There are many nuances in the procedures and processing standards at each airport, and that can be challenging when clearing customs, especially if you regularly use different airports as your entry point to the US.”
NBAA says it plans to update the archive as CBP publishes and revises new fact sheets. The tool is designed to be temporary, and users will be redirected to CBP’s official website once it is active.
Potentially a useful tool for –everyone– not just NBAA members. Minimum annual membership appears to be $375.
Good point! The government–through the FAA, Customs, and other agencies–requires minimum performance standards for aircraft operators–why not have similar standards for Customs–operating hours, hours of notice to Customs to be provided by aircraft operators, “after hours” fees, phone numbers, maximum number of passengers, etc.? There appears to be no uniformity for Customs–some stations want prior notification–some do not require it. Some want the pilot to taxi to a specific spot–but don’t publish where that spot is. Some want the pilot to come inside the office–some want ALL PASSENGERS to come inside–and yet others get angry if ANYBODY leaves the aircraft before the Customs officer gets there.
Common practices and notification would make it easier for all concerned.
Yes, THIS!! The absolute lack of uniformity amongst customs ports is a huge pain…and liability, when the penalties for not adhering to the inconsistent rules can be huge.
But it’s worse than just differences between stations. You get different “rules” and procedures depending on who you talk to at the SAME station (assuming you can get them to actually answer the phone in the first place). More than once I have talked to one person a day before my arrival, only to have the agent on duty chew me out for following the procedures given to me the previous day by someone else.
A welcome tool. It’s a huge pain dealing with CPB to get current info on points of entry.