Airport of Entry in Canada

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Steven
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Airport of Entry in Canada

Post by Steven »

I'm planning a day trip from the US (Boston area) to Canada, basically just to add a new experience to my logbook. Can anyone suggest a convenient/fun airport of entry in Canada in the Northeast region? I guess from the Canadian perspective that would be the Southeast region. Montreal sounds fun but I assume that airport is a pain for little GA flights.

I'm also looking for a suggestion for an airport of entry on the US side for the return flight. From what I understand, the US is distinctly more of a hassle.
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Re: Airport of Entry in Canada

Post by Pascal »

Coming to Canada, indeed CYUL Montreal is about 40$ usd for landing and another 40$ for parking at the fbo while you wait for the customs officers to show up.

Other airports of entry include CYSC (Sherbrooke, QC) and beautiful CYGK (Kingston, ON).

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/services/aoe-eng.html

For the return flight, KBTV (Burlington, VT) or KPSM (Portsmouth, NH) are good options.

By the way my girlfriend asked me if we could fly to Boston soon. Would you have a friendly GA airport to recommend?

Thanks,

Pascal
Last edited by Pascal on Mon May 28, 2018 2:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Airport of Entry in Canada

Post by Colin »

AOPA has some good pages on what you have to do to cross the border to the north. CYTZ is the Billy Bishop airport just next to Toronto. It's on an island and you take a ferry over to the city itself. It's a short walk to the CN Tower where I've had lunch in the revolving restaurant while (occasionally) watching my plane on the ramp down below.
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Steven
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Re: Airport of Entry in Canada

Post by Steven »

Pascal wrote:
By the way my girlfriend asked me if we could fly to Boston soon. Would you have a friendly GA airport to recommend?
Pascal,

You are a lucky man.

To first order, "friendly" and "Massachusetts" aren't frequently used together in the same sentence. But you have plenty of airports to choose from. I'm at KLWM. It's perfectly fine, as is KOWD. KBVY is OK too. All of those are a 30 to 40 minute taxi ride into Boston. There's no practical public transportation option from any airport.

6B6 is OK, though it's short, untowered, and narrow so I'd avoid it at night. KBED is my least favorite airport in the area because it has cumbersome security procedures and probably qualifies as the least GA "friendly" airport in the region. If I had to pick, I'd pick KOWD. The FBO has reasonable hours and I think you can arrange for a rental car if you so choose.
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Re: Airport of Entry in Canada

Post by gordsh »

In my little experience I can suggest CYXU (London).

Its a Canadian port of entry and you could also pop by the Diamond factory and/or have lunch at the Katana Restaurant which has great food.

Lots of FBO's for AVGas, etc and if you every have any problems and need some one to look at the plane XU Aviation (Diamond Certified shop) is right there as well.
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Re: Airport of Entry in Canada

Post by CFIDave »

Another Airport of Entry (AOE) suggestion if you'd like to visit Ottawa is Gatineau (CYND), a nice non-towered GA airport on the Quebec side of the river that's a short taxi ride into town.
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Re: Airport of Entry in Canada

Post by Lou »

Colin, isn't there a tunnel from Billy Bishop to the street?

Steven, make sure you get your eAPIS account set up for leaving and returning.
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Re: Airport of Entry in Canada

Post by gordsh »

Yes, there is, the Pedestrian Tunnel connects the Billy Bishop Airport to the mainland.
https://www.portstoronto.com/airport/pa ... unnel.aspx
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Re: Airport of Entry in Canada

Post by Localizer »

Hi,
Sorry, this is off subject, but relates to Canada and US.
I want to fly from Cleveland, OH to Mackinac Island, probably VFR and try direct. This will take me over Canadian airspace. Has anyone flown that route? I wonder if I need to do anything special outside if just flight following. Thanks!
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Re: Airport of Entry in Canada

Post by Colin »

You do not need to do anything special when you pass through Canadian airspace without landing. The first time I did it (flying from Michigan to New Jersey) I asked the controller if I needed to do anything as I entered Canadian airspace and he said, "Make sure you have exact CANADIAN change for the tollbooths up ahead."

That pedestrian tunnel went in around 2015 and I have yet to have the chance to use it.
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