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Running Title: France

France’s Airlines, Airspace and A-holes.

Filtrep

University May, 30th 2010

High Altitude Navigation AVSC 3400

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 Abstract

A lot of countries in the world have different procedures regarding airlines,

customs, currency, and airspace requirements. Basically they are all set up the same, due

to the fact that a lot of countries use the F.A.A. as a template for their own laws and

requirements. This paper will examine a few of the differences as it pertains to the

country of France A.K.A. the land of faeries and pole smokers.

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 Aviation Global Geography Research Paper

France’s major airline is Air France and it is the second largest airline in Europe

today. Europe alone received 12,420,662 travelers from the U.S. in 2008 and almost as

many cases of venereal diseases. Air France was founded on May 17th 1933. Paris's

Charles De Gaulle (the founders were unable think of a name that was gay enough)

airport is the world's 8th busiest; located 14 miles north France and is home to 559812

movements, of passengers and bowels, in 2008. (Encyclopedia Britannica 2010, Pg 156)

The airport offers many of the same amenities that U.S. Airports offer including: ATM's,

mongoloid security, car rentals, freedom fag fries, restaurants, shops, condom dispensers,

etc. The airport can be reached by car, skateboard, train, tricycle, bus or taxi.

France's customs are basically structured around the country's own laws

concerning alcohol, tobacco and contraband. Import is free, but only to passengers who

have bought those particular goods within the E.U. (www.iatatravelcentre.com) It

appears that the country shows a little more favoritism to those who purchase goods

within Europe; for instance: import passengers arriving from non-E.U. countries are only

allowed 200 cigarettes, while those who have purchased the goods within the E.U. are

allowed 800 cigarettes. This is mainly due to the fact that the French are able to fit more

objects up their ass than those from other countries. This rule is true for the purchases of

alcohol and gerbils. French customs give a strict warning concerning animals that do not

have the proper certificates, stating that the animal will be either returned to the place of

origin, or the legs cut off the pet and sub sequentially taken out for “a drag”, if the

certification requirements are not met. Similar to the policies regarding other imported

goods, animals from certain countries in Europe are exempt from rabies shots if traveling

from France to Corsica, or if the pet is from the U.K, (with minor stipulations.)
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While France is known for the production of many aircraft over the years, the

Concorde stands out as probably the most notorious turd of an aircraft ever created by the

bitchy beret wearing engineers at Aerospatiale. First flown in 1976, this supersonic pile

of shit was able to make transatlantic flights in half the time it took other jet airliners, this

was a result of the substantial amount of horseshit from the passenger’s mouths being

used as fuel. Aerospatiale is the maker of the Concorde and they also manufactured

France's first turbojet-powered airliner; the Caravelle. “The Civil Aviation Specification

of November 1951, called for the development in France of a turbine-powered airliner

that could be marketed internationally, in competition with aircraft in this category

already flown in Britain, and to be developed in the USA.” (The Encyclopedia of World

Aircraft, pg. 20) The Concorde has not gone without its share of bad luck: “A Concorde

landing at New York (JFK) on June 3 catches fire when a number of Canadian geese are

sucked into its engines; no injuries to humans aboard are reported.” (The Airline

Encyclopedia pg. 199 Aerospatiale is also known for many other aircraft including the

Dauphin helicopter which utilizes the Fenestron, or shrouded tail rotor; and the Alouette,

which became the first aircraft of any kind, and the first helicopter in the world, to

receive an American certification. In more recent times France was a partner, along with

other countries, in the production of Airbus which allowed for competition with major

U.S. commercial jet transport companies. France is also home to three of the

manufacturing sites: Nantes, Toulouse, and Saint-Nazaire along with assembly line and

headquarters.
 The main language of France is French but the native citizens of the country

speak many other languages as well, which probably helps quite a bit with

pilot/controller communication language barriers. Some of the other regional dialects

include: Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, and Flemish, there are

75 to 80 (more if dying archaic languages are included) languages spoken in France.

The following airspace classifications are available for VFR flight in France: Class C

which requires 5 km visibility below Flight Level 10000 and 8km visibility above FL

10000 with 300m separation above and below clouds and 1500m horizontal separation.

ATC clearance and radio contact are compulsory. Class D which has the same vertical

and lateral separation from clouds as Class C and clearance along with radio contact

requirements are also the same. Class E separations are the same, but the ATC clearance

and radio contact are not required except for night VFR. Class G has the same visibility;

separation requirements are the same as the other air-spaces but the radio contact and

ATC clearance are not required at any time. There is a general speed limit of 250kts

below 10000 AMSL. (www.francoflyers.org) Transponders are required for all

Instrument Flight.

The currency of France is the Euro, with one Euro being equal 100 cents. Before

1999 the currency of France was the Franc and remained the national currency until

2002. (Encyclopedia Britannica, Pg 277) In comparison to other countries, specifically

those who have not adopted the F.A.A.’s template for regulation and standards, France

has a user friendly aviation environment that appears to make the transition for both

pilots and passengers a fairly easy one.

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References

1. France Customs, Currency & Airport Tax regulations details.

http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/FR-France-customs-currency-airport-tax-

regulations-details.htm Retrieved on May, 20th 2010

2. Safra, E. Jacob., (2010) Chairman of the Board Encyclopedia Britannica 2010.

3. General Editor: Donald, David., (1997) The Complete Encyclopedia of World

Aircraft. Published by Orbis and Aerospace

4. 4. French Airspace Classification http://www.francoflyers.org/2008/04/french-

airspace.html Retrieved on May, 22 2010

5. Smith, Myron J. Jr., (2002) The Airline Encyclopedia 1909-2002. The Scarecrow

Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland, and Oxford

6. Paris Airport Information (Paris, France) http://www.paris.world-

guides.com/airports.html Retrieved on 5-20-10